All That Matters
by nowwecansee
Summary: Possible longterm Kurt/Blaine. Pretty generic so far, but it's going places.
1. Chapter 1

The bell rang as Kurt Hummel fumbled with the combination on his locker. He'd never gotten used to the code; he was still used to his McKinely lock. Just as he snapped it open, he felt a warm hand cup his shoulder for a second, then fingertips brush diagonally down his back. Kurt shuddered.

"Hey Kurt," Blaine Anderson smiled, leaning against the next-door locker. "Great job at Regionals."

"Thanks, Blaine," Kurt smiled back, blushing a little as he tried to focus on what he needed for class….but it was _really_ hard with Blaine staring at him like that, with his warm eyes, familiar smile…he shook his head a little to clear it. "Uh…how was the rest of your weekend?"

"It was…boring," Blaine said as he turned his head to acknowledge someone passing by them. "Ready to go?" he said, smiling again as Kurt hooked his messenger bag over his shoulder and shut the locker. They started walking, and after a few seconds, Kurt felt something brush his hand. His heart leapt. Then it happened _again!_ Finally, he felt Blaine's hand slide into his own, their fingers intertwining effortlessly. Kurt's head seemed to be filled with cotton and marshamallow fluff; incoherent thoughts were flying around his mind, smashing into each other. He was one part nervous, two parts thrilled—this was Blaine, his boyfriend—ooh, that was a good word. Boyfriend. Boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend. If it felt this good to think it, how would it feel so say it? He'd have to work it into conversation somehow. But…were they boyfriends? They had to be, right? Blaine had kissed him, and now they were holding hands. That had to mean they were boyfriends, right? Right. But even so…what would people think? He hadn't seen anyone at Dalton ever get slushied, but then again, he'd never seen anything as outrageous as what they were doing.

But people were swarming around them, hurrying to class. Guys were smiling at them, slapping them on the back, congratulating them on their performance at Regionals. It felt good. No, no…it felt _great._

Kurt's mind was still reeling from everything when he and Blaine reached the Warbler Headquarters. They were the first ones in there, apart from the council, and Blaine led him to the couch beneath the window.

"Are you okay?" Blaine whispered in his ear, and he shuddered again.

"Yeah," Kurt assured him. "Why?"

"You just seem kind of…tense." Blaine released his hand and stretched his arm behind Kurt, to massage his shoulder.

"No, I'm...fine. Great, actually." He smiled. He really _was_ great.

* * *

"Hey, handsome," Blaine said, once again sidling up next to Kurt at his locker, this time at the end of the day. "Can I give you a ride?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Kurt said, smiling and shutting his locker. Once again, Blaine took his hand as they walked through the school and out into the parking lot, Kurt's heart fluttering all the way. Would he ever get used to this?

As they buckled their seatbelts, Blaine turned on the radio, right in the middle of "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry. Kurt smiled. Of course.

"_You make me feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream, the way you turn me on…"_ Blaine sang, rolling down the windows and pulling out of his spot. "_I can't sleep, let's run away, don't ever look back, don't ever look back—"_

Kurt cut him off. "_My heart stops when you look at me, just one touch, now baby I believe—"_

_ "This is real, so take a chance, don't ever look back, don't ever look back." _Blaine grinned widely, and they sang the rest of the song at the tops of their lungs.

"So…" Blaine said, turning down the radio once the song was over. "Have you, um…"

"What?" Kurt said, feeling nervous for some reason.

"Well, I was just wondering if you had told your dad…about us."

Kurt smiled. _Us. _"No…not yet."

"Oh." Blaine sounded disappointed.

"It's not that I don't want to! It's just…I want it to be the right…time. I don't want to, you know, surprise him, or anything. This will be new to him, you know. Heck, it's new to me."

"And so far?" Blaine said, looking at him sideways, keeping his face towards the road.

"So far…" he traced his fingertips along Blaine's hand at the wheel. "It's pretty great."

Blaine turned his head, and Kurt was pleased to see that his _boyfriend's _goofy grin matched his own.

They didn't say much the rest of the way, but when Kurt got out at his house, Blaine followed him up to the door. Kurt paused, his hand on the door.

"Thanks for the ride," he said nervously, fiddling with the key in the lock.

"It was no trouble, really," Blaine said, also somewhat nervously. He hesitated, then leaned in, kissing Kurt full on the mouth. It was quick, not like their first time, but it still left Kurt breathless. Without thinking really, Kurt pushed opened the door and left it hanging open.

"Would you...like to come in?" He offered. Blaine grinned again and nodded eagerly. Kurt led him in, through the living room, and they deposited their stuff on the ottoman and sat next to each other on the couch.

"So…." Blaine said.

"So…" Kurt replied, laughing nervously.

"So…where is everyone?"

"Dad's working late, Finn is out with Quinn, and Carole's at a book club meeting."

"Cool. So…we're…alone?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Blaine looked at him for a moment, then a grin sprang up and he inched closer. Immediately, Kurt's heart kicked into overdrive.

They were kissing again. It was nice. One of Blaine's hands was touching Kurt's face, his hair, and the other was—

"Whoa," Kurt said, leaning away, breathing heavy.

"What?" Blaine said, his hand still partly outstretched.

"I…you just surprised me is all."

"Kurt, I didn't do anything," he half-laughed.

"I know, I just…I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Blaine smiled apologetically. "Try again?"

He paused for a second, thinking, and then he grinned and nodded.

Blaine leaned over him, sort of leaning him back against the arm of the sofa. Kurt put his hand to Blaine's face, his fingertips grazing his hair—it was so neat, all the time!—and Blaine was slowly untying Kurt's tie with one hand, the other still on his face.

"Is this okay?" Blaine said as he pulled Kurt's tie from around his neck. Kurt nodded, yes, it was very very okay indeed.

A door opened in the back.

"Hello?" Kurt said as he and Blaine ripped apart. His voice sounded strange, low. "Dad? Carole?" His breath came rapidly, his heart beating wildly—whether from the kissing or the intruder, he didn't know.

A muffled giggle. Then, Finn's voice: "Uh, no, sorry Kurt. It's me, and Quinn." They came around the corner, looking like they were the ones who had just been walked in on. He nodded to Blaine, as Quinn's eyes travelled over Blaine, then Kurt, the way they were flung on opposite sides of the sofa.

"Right," Kurt said, forcing a smile. "Hi, Quinn."

"Quinn," Finn said, gesturing to Blaine, "this is Blaine, Kurt's…"

"Friend, " Kurt said, trying to ignore the look on Blaine's face. "He's my friend."

"Right…" Quinn said. "I'm Quinn, Finn's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Blaine said.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Blaine stood up, smoothing out his uniform and straightening his tie. "Well, I guess I'd better be going…bye Finn, nice to meet you Quinn. See you tomorrow, Kurt."

Quinn waved, and Kurt stood to walk Blaine to the door.

"I'll call you later," Blaine said.

"Okay," Kurt said, smiling, his breath finally starting to return to normal. That is, until Blaine leaned in and kissed him quickly on the lips again.

"Bye Kurt," he winked.

"Bye Blaine," Kurt said, and shut the door, leaning against it like the cliché I-just-got-my-first-kiss-from-the-boy-of-my-dreams teenage girl in movies. After a moment spent reveling in the past half hour, he returned to the living room to collect his things. Finn was standing there still, but Quinn was gone.

"Where's Quinn?" Kurt said, avoiding his step-brother's eyes.

"She's upstairs…"Finn said, watching him curiously. "What were you and Blaine doing?"

"Nothing!" Kurt said, a little too fast. "I mean…nothing. Studying. You know…nothing."

Finn hesitated, then shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay," Kurt said, and he knew he was blushing. "Um…I'm gonna go do my homework now."

"Cool, Finn said, started upstairs.

Kurt sank back on the couch. Why was this such a problem? He liked Blaine, a lot, and Burt liked Blaine. Finn liked Blaine, right? Right! Everyone loved Blaine. So why was it so hard for Kurt to accept that Blaine really and truly liked _him_, and to admit it to other people?

"Oh Pavarotti," Kurt sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "What am I gonna do?"


	2. Chapter 2

The next day after school, Kurt and Blaine were sharing a table at the Lima Bean, their usual beverages in hand, and playing footsie (much to Kurt's stomach-fluttering delight) under the table.

"So I've been thinking," Kurt said, smiling as Blaine's foot bumped his own to the beat of the music playing.

"Yeah?" Blaine said, leaning forward and touching his hand. "What about?"

"About…telling my Dad."

Blaine stopped, his mouth full of coffee, but he couldn't stop from smiling. "Really?" he said, after a hasty swallow. "That's fantastic!"

Kurt leaned forward to wipe a dribble of coffee off of Blaine's chin. "I mean, I figured, since you're my boyfriend…" he hesitated, testing the word. "Since you're my boyfriend, he ought to know, right?"

"Absolutely!" Blaine said eagerly. "When are you going to do it?"

"I was thinking soon, like…Friday, maybe."

"Kurt, that's awesome!" Blaine smiled and squeezed his hand. "Really awesome."

"And I want you to be there."

Blaine paused. "You do?"

"Yeah, why not? You are my boyfriend, after all. I think it would be nice. You can come for dinner, and then we'll tell him. Together." Kurt smiled and squeezed his hand, but Blaine's brow was furrowed over something. "What?"

"Nothing," Blaine said, taking a sip of coffee. "I just can't do it on Friday. I, uh, have a doctor's appointment."

"Oh," Kurt said, his shoulders sinking a little. "Well, can't you come after?"

Blaine thought for a moment, then grinned. "That should work."

"It's a date." Kurt said, and Blaine stood up and stretched. "Ready to go?" he said, offering Kurt his hand.

But Kurt was staring at something, just above Blaine's hip.

"What are you staring at?" Blaine asked, tugging his shirt down from where it had ridden up.

"You have a bruise," Kurt said, "There." He touched the spot with his fingertip.

"No I don't," Blaine said, taking a step back.

"Yes you do!" Kurt said, and he didn't even know why it was a big deal, but he stepped forward and yanked Blaine's shirt up, completely disregarding the other patrons. And there it was, the size of a quarter, halfway between Blaine's hip and his bottom rib. It was an odd place for a bruise, but Kurt didn't have much time to think about it before Blaine pulled his shirt back down.

"Kurt!" Blaine said, turning red, a first for him. "What are you doing?"

"I was just…sorry," Now _he_ was blushing. "How did that get there?"

"I don't know, geez. Haven't you ever had a random mystery bruise?"

"Yeah, I guess…sorry. Really."

Blaine's gaze softened. "It's okay. I forgive you." He smiled and held out his hand again, and this time Kurt took it.

Later, as Kurt was brushing his teeth, he got a text from Blaine.

**B: Sorry about earlier, at the Bean. I didn't mean to freak out, I've just been really stressed lately. I haven't told my parents yet either. I'm sorry I took it out on you. Forgive me ****?**

Kurt smiled and tapped out a reply.

**K: Of course I do, silly!**

**K: Have you thought about when you're going to tell them?**

**B: What, that I'm definitely gay and stopped seeing Rachel, or that I'm now dating a guy?**

**K: Well, both. Haven't they figured it out about you and Rachel yet?**

**B: I think they're just avoiding the truth. They have to know. **

**K: We'll figure something out. Don't worry **

**B: Thanks, Kurt **

Friday afternoon, Kurt was standing at his locker, struggling to balance five binders on one arm as he attempted to tug his physics book from his jam-packed locker.

"Need a hand?" someone said behind him, and he craned his neck to see Blaine behind him, offering his hand to take the binders.

"My knight in shining armor," Kurt said, laughing as he passed them to Blaine.

"So are we still on for tonight?"

Kurt stomach fluttered at the thought. "Yep, after your appointment, right?"

Blaine nodded. "I should be there about five."

"Great! Dinner's at six. Carole's making spaghetti."

"Mm," Blaine said, licking his lips. "Sounds delicious." He handed the binders back to Kurt and took the textbook from his hands.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tonight," Kurt said as he shut his locker. There were only a few other kids in the hall, the final bell having rung almost fifteen minutes ago.

"You got it, babe," Blaine said, and he kissed Kurt quickly on the cheek. "See ya later," he grinned and walked towards the exit, leaving Kurt leaning against a locker for support. He would never get over this.

"Is he still coming?" Burt said to Kurt, who was covertly trying to peek through the front window for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, I'm sure he is," Kurt said, more to reassure himself than his father. He checked his phone. Still no messages, and it was almost five-thirty!

"Burt, can you come here, honey?" Carole called from the kitchen, thankfully tearing Burt's questioning gaze from his son.

A second later, Blaine was pulling up in front of the house. "He's here!" Kurt shouted.

"Someone's excited!" Carole called from the kitchen, and she and Burt laughed. Kurt ignored them as he raced to open the door.

"I was afraid you weren't coming!" Kurt said as Blaine reached the porch. "I-what's wrong?"

Blaine looked distracted, almost downright upset.

"Blaine?"

He perked up at the sound of his name. "What? Oh, nothing! Just uh…my hand hurts. Blood drawn, you know." He raised his hand to show Kurt his Buzz Lightyear band-aid.

"Adorable," Kurt said, pulling him inside.

Blaine breathed in deeply. "It smells great."

"Well, thanks!" Carole said, as she and Burt came into the living room. "It'll be ready soon."

"Great!" Kurt said. "Well…we'll be up in my room."

"We'll call you when it's ready," Carole said, already on her way back to the stove as they headed up the stairs.

Blaine flopped onto Kurt's bed as Kurt shut the door. "I'm beat," he said.

"Me too," Kurt said, sitting cross-legged beside him.

They sat in silence for a while, Blaine tracing shapes on Kurt's lower back. He sighed.

"Come here," Blaine said, pulling Kurt back to lie beside him. They rolled onto their sides, about a half-foot apart, their feet twisting together. They lay there for a while, not saying anything, just taking each other in. Soon, though, Blaine's hand was walking across the bed (in true use-your- fingers-as-legs fashion) and up Kurt's hip, and he was scooting closer to kiss him. It was more serious than it had ever been; Blaine's hands were entangled in Kurt's hair, twisting, and Kurt's hands were on Blaine's face, each wanting more of each other. Quickly, fluidly, Blaine rolled on top of Kurt, and moved his hands down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt.

And Kurt was _terrified._

He shoved Blaine off of him, perhaps a little too harshly, because now Blaine was looking at Kurt with a deeply wounded look.

Great.

"Did I do something wrong?" Blaine said. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry."

"No, Blaine, you didn't do anything wrong!" This was so hard to put into words, even when Kurt was thinking about it. "It's just…"

"Just what?" Blaine was looking at him expectantly. But respectfully; he no longer seemed upset.

Kurt moved back to the bed, surprised to find that in his frenzy, he had jumped up and practically across the room.

"Look, Blaine, I really like you. A lot." Kurt said, and Blaine grinned.

"I like you too," he said, and Kurt couldn't help but smile.

Kurt took a deep breath. "And that's partly it. I'm not used to that yet, to having someone like me a lot. Or at all, really." He looked at the floor. "It's a strange feeling, like how do I know if it's real?"

"Well," Blaine murmured, scooting closer again to whisper in Kurt's ear, "you're just going to have to trust me."

"And that's another thing," Kurt said, standing up again. "I _do_ trust you, really! But…"

"But what?" It was really amazing, Kurt thought, how Blaine could take all these interruptions without getting upset. He was perfectly content to listen to Kurt ramble on and on about pointless things…and understand why they weren't pointless, why they mattered. That was important.

Kurt took another deep breath. "This is going to sound really stupid, but…you remember after we sang 'Animal', and you came over here to teach me how to be sexy?"

"And you got upset with me and asked me to leave," Blaine said, laughing. "Of course I remember."

"Right. And you remember that time in the Lima Bean, when I told you how I felt about you, and you said you were bad at romance and that you'd never been anyone's boyfriend before?"

Blaine's expression softened, and he nodded. "Yes."

"As you know…I haven't either."

Blaine looked at him expectantly. When Kurt didn't continue, he said, "Kurt, that's not that big of a deal." He laughed a little. "We're both each other's firsts."

Kurt's stomach quivered a little at the phrase. "Right, but…what I'm trying to say is…" Kurt took another breath, the biggest one yet, and started talking very fast. "What I'm trying to say is that up until now, the most serious relationship I've ever had has been with my coffee maker. It's always been there for me, a constant, always supporting me. And I know it will never give me up, or let me down. And don't you dare start singing that song!" Kurt said as Blaine opened his mouth. "And I know it sounds ridiculous, but this kind of scares me Blaine, a lot. I really really like you, and that scares me. It terrifies me to realize that, to say that to you, because I know that at any second, you could get right up off my bed and…and leave. And I don't know what I would do if that happened." Kurt stopped, finally taking in air after the monologue. He leaned against his desk and put his head in his hands; Blaine remained silent.

_Great, now you've done it, you big idiot. What were you thinking, putting all this out there _now_? You've barely been dating a week! He's going to think you're a psycho and leave—_

"Kurt."

That single word, his name. It meant a lot, in this moment. It wasn't a "you're crazy" or an "I'm leaving" kind of 'Kurt'. It was just that, his name, like Blaine was trying to call him back from some far-off place. Kurt picked his head out of his hands to see Blaine sitting exactly where he'd left him.

"Kurt, come here," Blaine said, standing up off the bed and walking to Kurt, his arms outstretched. He wrapped him in a hug, resting his cheek on top of Kurt's smooth, strawberry-scented hair. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise."

Kurt lifted his head off Blaine's shoulder to look at him. "There's something wrong with me."

"Besides the fact that you're overly paranoid and you talk too much when you're nervous, you're perfect," Blaine said in his ear. "And I think it's _adorable_." Kurt shuddered as Blaine's lips grazed his earlobe, and just before they could kiss again, there was a knock on the door. They both leapt apart, their hearts whamming in their chests.

"Boys?" Carole said through the door. "Dinner's ready!"

"Okay!" Kurt answered, his voice uneven. "We'll be down in a sec!"

"Damn!" Blaine said when she was gone. "She climbs stairs like a ninja!"

Kurt laughed. "Thanks for listening to me, Blaine."

"I could do it all day," he said, grinning. He stuck out his hand again. "Let's go get some grub!"

"Dinner was delicious, Mrs. Hummel!" Blaine said, leaning back in his chair and wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Yeah it was, Mom," Finn added, and Kurt nodded.

"It was no trouble, boys. And please, Blaine, call me Carole!" she said as she gathered the dishes up from the table.

"Uh, Dad?" Kurt said tentatively as Finn got up from the table and Burt made to follow. Blaine shot him a glance as his father paused.

"Yeah, Kurt?"

"Can I…talk to you for a second?"

Burt exchanged a glance with Carole as she came back into the room, but he nodded and sat back down. "What's up?"

Kurt took a deep breath. He'd done that a lot today. "Well," he started. "You know…Blaine," he said, and reached across the table to grab Blaine's hand. Burt's eyes followed his hand, but he managed to keep his composure. Blaine squeezed his hand in encouragement. "Well…he's….my boyfriend."

The sentence hung in the empty air for a moment. No one said anything, and even the clinking of dishes from the kitchen had stopped.

Burt took off his hat and ran his hand over his hair, taking a deep breath. "Well," he said, and looked at Kurt. "I think that's just great." He smiled at his son, who stared in disbelief for a second before breaking into his own ecstatic smile.

"Really?" Kurt said, and jumped up to run over and hug his Dad. "Wahoo!"

Later, as Kurt and Blaine were saying good-bye on the front walk, Blaine said, "I don't know why you were so worried. They took it beautifully, just like we expected."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. I've always known he would love me no matter what, and I'd imagined telling him a hundred times, but…I don't know, it's just different when you're actually _doing _it."

"I understand," Blaine said, cupping Kurt's shoulder. "But we got through it, right?"

"Right!" Kurt said, smiling, and leaning his cheek against Blaine's warm hand. "And our next hurdle: telling your parents!"

Blaine's face dropped. "Something tells me that will be a lot more difficult." He was silent for a moment, then picked his head up. "But I want you to be there."

"Are you sure?" Kurt said. "I mean, your parents are a lot different from mine…"

Blaine shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I want you to be there, tomorrow, when I tell them."

"What? Tomorrow?" Kurt sputtered.

Blaine nodded. "Why not? It's as good a time as any, right?"

"Well, I suppose…"

"Wonderful. Then it's settled. Tomorrow you'll come for dinner, and we'll tell them together."

Kurt smiled as Blaine leaned in to kiss him good night.

_ Together._


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Sorry it's so long, guys, there was just a lot to be included.

* * *

The next afternoon, Kurt was looking over his math notes when his phone beeped.

**B: Hey, is it okay if I pick you up now?**

Kurt looked at the clock. 4:45.

**K: Yeah, that's fine. Nervous?**

**B: A little. Are you?**

**K: They're not my parents.**

**B: That's not what I asked.**

**K: Well then, yes, I suppose, I am a little nervous.**

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"Kurt!" Finn called from downstairs. "It's Blaine!"

"Thanks, Finn," Kurt said as he jumped the last two stairs at the bottom. "C'mon, Blaine!" He grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him up the stairs, back to his room, leaving Finn staring after them uncertainly.

"I'm glad you're here," Kurt said, pushing Blaine down on the bed and moving to his closet. "I wasn't sure what I should wear."

Blaine laughed. "That would be what you worried about."

Kurt put his hands on his hips. "Well it _is_ important, Blaine, this is the first time I've met your parents, and we're taking a big risk with what we're doing! I want to make a good impression." Blaine covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

"I'm sorry for laughing," he said, but he was still grinning.

Kurt looked his boyfriend up and down. A long-sleeved button-up and jeans, nothing too special. Kurt turned back around, tapping his chin as he surveyed his closet. As he looked, Blaine stood up and walked to the desk, quietly shifting through the papers and notes covering it's surface. He picked up a notebook and flipped back the cover, looking through the first few pages. About halfway through, he found a page dominated by a single heart, with 'Blaine + Kurt' outlined thickly in pen. He started smiling, tracing the letters with his finger, until Kurt turned around and said,

"Come on, Blaine, can you please help me-what are you doing?"

Blaine slammed the notebook shut and hid it behind his back. "Nothing!"

Kurt immediately turned a deep red color; he seemed to emit embarrassment. "Blaine!" he said as he rushed over and attempted to tug the notebook from his grasp. "That was private!"

"It's cute," Blaine said, holding the notebook out of his reach. "I'm flattered."

"You're about to be dead," Kurt said, turning even redder (if that was possible). "Give it back!"

"What else is in here?" Blaine teased, dancing out of Kurt's reach. "Let's have a look, shall we?" He jumped up onto the immaculately-made bed and bounced a little, opening the notebook again. "English notes? Boo. Venn diagram? Boooo-rring!" He laughed as Kurt's face turned deeper and deeper shades of red as he tried to rip the notebook from Blaine's weaving hand. "Ooh, what's this? Whoa!"

Kurt had leaped onto the bed, tackling Blaine, who tumbled back and smacked his head on the wall and fell to the mattress with a groan.

"Why did you quite football?" he moaned, rubbing his head. "That hurt!"

"Aw, I'm sorry," Kurt said, crawling over and cradling Blaine's head in his lap and started stroking his hair. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Someone knocked on the door. "Uh..Kurt?" It was Finn. "What are you guys doing?"

Kurt and Blaine burst out laughing as they realized what the exchange must have sounded like. "Sorry, Finn, we'll be quiet!" Kurt called, and this only made Blaine laugh harder.

"Okay, but seriously, we do need to go," Blaine said after their laughter had mostly died down. "I told them I'd be back by six."

"Well geez, Blaine!" Kurt said, looking at the clock. "It's almost 5:40! And I'm not even dressed yet!"

"Looks like it's time to quit fooling around and get down to business, then," Blaine said, sitting up. His hair was rumpled from the fall and Kurt's fingers, and he tried to smooth it.

* * *

Kurt finally decided on jeans also, and a blue sweater. Simple. Not extravagant. He doubled back for a jacket when they were just a foot out the door; it was cold outside, and the sky was overcast.

"Kurt," Burt said as he made to move through the door again.

"Yeah Dad?" Kurt called, holding up a finger to Blaine, letting him know it'd be just one second. "We're going to be late!"

"I just want to talk to you about something real quick..." he said, leaning in and dropping his voice. "Look, don't get upset, but I think that...in light of you and Blaine's new...relationship..."

"Yes?" Kurt said, trying to hurry this along.

"Well, I think it's a little...inappropriate...to allow you to have Blaine in your room with the door closed when Carole and I aren't home."

Kurt stared incredulously at his father for a moment before laughing. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Dad. I read my pamphlets like a good boy."

"I'm serious, Kurt. I just want you to be careful."

Kurt's expression softened. "Okay, Dad. I am being careful. Nothing happened this afternoon, if Finn caused this."

"Finn? What does Finn have to do with anything?"

"Oh, uh, nothing Dad, gotta go! Be home tennish? Love you, bye!" Kurt ducked out the door and ran across the yard before Burt could say anything else.

"What'd your Dad want?" Blaine asked as Kurt climbed into the front seat.

Kurt laughed. "He ah...I guess Finn told him about this afternoon, and he wanted to make sure we weren't being 'inappropriate'." Blaine half-laughed, and Kurt caught on immediately. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Blaine nodded, unsure at first, but then more confidently. "It'll have to be done sometime."

"But we don't have to do it tonight," Kurt said, putting a hand on Blaine's arm. "We can wait a few days."

"If I don't do it tonight, I won't ever do it," Blaine said resolutely. "I have to do it before I chicken out."

Kurt fell silent and let his arm drop. They didn't talk much the rest of the ride.

Finally they pulled up in front of Blaine's house. He put the car in park and fell back against the seat with a sigh. Kurt decided to make one final attempt to talk him out of this.

"Blaine," he said firmly. "I don't think you're ready for this. We both know that your parents aren't like mine, we might need to figure out a different approach."

Blaine considered this for a moment. "No," he said finally. "I have to do this, Kurt. I don't care how they react, but I have to do this. For me, for us. It's important to me."

Kurt stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Then I'm behind you 100%."

"Great," Blaine said with a grin. "Then let's go!" He got out of the car and walked around to open Kurt's door for him. "Er..." he said as he reached for Kurt's hand. "On second thought, it's probably best if we keep contact to a minimum."

Kurt reached over and squeezed his arm anyway. "For luck," he said.

Blaine hesitated only for a second, his hand on the doorknob, before pushing it open and calling, "I'm home!"

Kurt had never been to Blaine's house before. It was cozy. The hallway they were standing in was dark, but he could make out the numerous frames that covered the walls on either side. The one closest to them seemed to be a school picture of an early-elementary school Blaine. "Adorable," he said, touching the frame with his fingertips.

"Hey Dad," Blaine said as they entered a living room. More family photos could be found here, including a picture of Blaine and his father, covered in oil, elbows-deep in a car engine, front and center on the mantel above the fireplace. There was a sofa, and an armchair, which was reclined, facing a television showing a football game. A grunt of recognition came from the chair.

"Dad?" Blaine said.

"What, Blaine?" the chair said, and a balding man sat up and turned, putting the game on mute.

"Th-this is K-Kurt," Blaine stammered, getting nervous. Kurt wasn't used to seeing Blaine this way; it made him uneasy.

Blaine's father stared at Kurt, scrutinizing him. "Nice to meet you," he said after a minute, then turned back around to the TV.

Blaine's cheeks were red as he turned to Kurt. "That's my Dad," he said, and dropped his voice. "Always the charmer."

"The family photos are very misleading, then," Kurt whispered.

"It's mostly my mom," Blaine explained. "She's been trying to pull us back together for years."

Kurt's heart sank, and he was hit with an overwhelming wave of sympathy for Blaine. He had known how different their parents were, but Blaine had never let on about how big the difference was, or how much it affected him. He was overcome with an urge to hug Blaine, to at least touch his hand, but knew that it was a bad idea.

A worn-out though motherly-looking woman came out from the kitchen. She frowned at the man in the chair, but quickly recomposed her face into a welcoming smile. "Hi there," she said, extending her hand. "You must be Kurt."

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said, smiling.

"Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes," she said. 'We're having roasted chicken."

"Sounds delicious!" Kurt said.

"We'll be down the hall, Mom," Blaine said, tugging Kurt by his sleeve back into the hallway.

"Okay..." she said, trailing off with a slight worry line on her brow.

"So, how does your mom feel? You know, about you...being gay?" Kurt whispered once they were alone in a sitting room. The walls were lined with bookshelves, there was an old computer in the corner on a table, and two armchairs. Blaine sank into one of these and put his head in his hands.

"She's better about it than Dad," he said. "By that I mean she'll tolerate me being gay, but I'm not so sure about the actual acting on it."

"She seems sweet," Kurt said, kneeling in front of Blaine and touching their foreheads together. "I'm sure she'll take it well."

"I hope so," Blaine said, looking at Kurt through his lashes so as to keep their forehead contact. "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too," Kurt said. "I've always wondered what the inside of your house looks like."

Blaine grinned. "Wanna see my room?"

Kurt laughed, happy to see Blaine finally smile. "Sure!"

Blaine stood up and took Kurt's hand, but dropped it a second later. "Uh, it's this way." He led Kurt back down the hallway, past two more doors, and into the room at the end.

It was perfectly square, painted a rich navy blue. There was a desk against the far wall, under a window, and Blaine's Dalton blazer was slung haphazardly over the back of the chair. A towel hung off the doorknob to the partially open closet door, and a jumble of shoes was piled halfway between the door and the unmade bed.

Blaine immediately colored. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't think about cleaning up..." he was bustling about the room, straightening and ordering where he could.

"It's fine," Kurt smiled, following behind him and picking things up. He picked up the shoes and sat on Blaine's bed to attempt at untying the knot. Instead of focusing, though, he looked around.

On the walls were posters for different bands and artists, as well as a corkboard with school announcements and random pictures of Blaine with friends, the Warblers, and his parents. On the bedside table next to Blaine's pillow-the one that still had an indention of Blaine's unruly-without-gel hair in it-was completely covered in papers, pens, and odds and ends.

"I think you're making it worse," Blaine chuckled as he dropped down beside Kurt. "Let me help." They tried to undo the knot together, but having twice as many fingers fumbling and bumping with each other wasn't particularly helping the situation.

"Now look what you did!" Kurt said, laughing. "This knot is the size of my head!" Blaine laughed too, trying to pull Kurt's hand away, but before he could answer, there was a cough at the door.

"Dinner's ready," Blaine's Dad said, staring at them coldly for a moment before turning and disappearing down the hall.

"Great," Blaine said under his breath, and Kurt touched his hand.

"Don't let it get to you," he said.

"Well," Blaine said as he stood up. "I guess we'd better get this show on the road."

* * *

"So Kurt," Blaine's Mom asked as they started in on the meal. "Are you a Warbler too?"

"Yes ma'am," Kurt said. "I-"

"You already knew that, Mom, " Blaine said, pushing his food around on his plate. "He sang with me at Regionals." Blaine's Dad looked up sharply.

"Oh," his Mom answered, dropping her eyes to the table. They all sat in awkward silence for a moment.

"Um...the food is really delicious, Mrs. Anderson," Kurt offered, and she raised her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you, honey." she said.

"Whatever happened to that Rachel girl?" Blaine's Dad interrupted.

Blaine and Kurt exchanged a look. "Well-," Blaine began, but his father cut him off again.

"Don't tell me you broke up with another girl," he said, slightly angry. "What was wrong with her this time?"

"I dunno," Blaine said, shrugging and continuing to play with his food.

"You're so damn wishy-washy, Blaine, that's your problem," he said, his mouth full of food. "Maybe if you would give these girls a chance for once-"

"I don't like girls, Dad!" Blaine burst out, hitting his open palm on the table and making Kurt and his mother jump.

"Excuse me?" his Dad said, narrowing his eyes. "And what the hell does that mean?"

"We've been through this, Dad!" Blaine said. "I'm _gay_." He drew the word out for as long as he could, and then it hung there in the air for a while before his father finally spoke.

"Get out," he said, so softly it was almost inaudible.

"W-what?" Blaine stammered, his fork clattering to the table.

"I said," his father began, his voice shaking. "Get out." When Blaine didn't move, he exploded: "Get the _hell_ out of my house! I will not tolerate such behavior, and I will not allow you to bring your boyfriend for dinner in my house! Get your things and leave, and don't come back, Blaine. I'm sick of you disrespecting your mother and I-"

"Disrespecting?" Blaine shouted. "This is who I am! I can't help that! I'm doing my best!"

"Like hell you are! You sit at our table, under our roof, eating our food, and then you pull some stunt like this with your boyfriend-" he said it again, like it was a filthy swear word, "making moon-eyes at each other, and I will not have it!"

"But Dad-" Blaine said, tears coming to his eyes.

"Don't you _dare_," his father began, his voice dropping to a dangerously low volume, "start crying." He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up, giving Kurt a disgusted look. "You have five minutes to get what you need, or I'm throwing you out."

"Mom..." Blaine said, turning to his mother.

But she sat completely still, a single tear streaming down her cheek as she traced her finger around the bottom of her water glass.

Blaine looked back and forth between them, his cheeks wet now, begging for help.

"Four and a half," his father said, and he stormed off into the living room.

"Mom!" Blaine begged, leaning low to look his mother in the face, but she shut her eyes.

"Leave your mother alone!" his father roared, storming back into the room. "And get out of here!"

Blaine stood up abruptly, knocking his chair to the floor, and ran from the room. Kurt remained, dumbstruck, staring at Blaine's father.

"I had better never see you again," he growled at Kurt.

"I know you think what you're doing makes sense, sir," Kurt said quietly, "but I know far too well what it's like to be hated for being what you are, and it's wrong. It's wrong of you to hate Blaine for what he is, for what he can't help, because he is really one of the purest, most whole-hearted, beautiful people I have ever met, and it's a shame what mistake you're making right now." He lay down his silverware and stood up. "I only hope that, in time, you can realize how big of a mistake it actually is." He left the room before Blaine's Dad, now almost purple in the face, could reply.

He found Blaine, crumpled, against the bed.

"Honey," he said, kneeling beside him. "It's okay, it's okay," he rubbed Blaine's shoulder, looking around for an overnight bag. "I promise, it will be okay." He stood up, walking to the closet where he found a duffel bag on the floor. It would do. He started rummaging through Blaine's drawers and closet, pulling out different items of clothing and putting them neatly into the bag as Blaine sobbed against the bed. Kurt sang softly under his breath until he was finished, then hooked the bag over his shoulder. "Blaine?" he said softly, and Blaine picked his head up off his arms. "Let's go," he said, and helped Blaine to his feet. He put an arm around his waist and helped him out, down the hall, past the living room, past the dining room, where Blaine's mother could be seen, still sitting at the table, tracing her finger around the water glass, and out the door to the car. He put the duffel bag in the back seat and opened the passenger door for Blaine, then got in the driver's seat.

By the time they arrived at Kurt's house, it was pouring down rain and Blaine had fallen silent. He was instead staring intently at the dashboard, as if trying to bore a hole into it just by looking at it long enough.

When the car stopped, Blaine didn't move. Kurt got out of the car and walked around to Blaine's side and opened the door, and leaned across him to unbuckle the seatbelt. When Blaine still didn't move, Kurt took Blaine's face in his hands and turned it to face him.

"Listen, Blaine," Kurt said. "What happened back there was not your fault. It wasn't your fault, and I promise everything is going to be okay. Okay?" Blaine didn't answer. Kurt sighed and pulled his boyfriend out of the car, once again looping an arm around his waist.

He pulled Blaine across the yard-they were getting soaked, but oh well-and opened the front door. They were greeted by a burst of laughter; in the living room, they could see Quinn, Finn, Carole, and Burt sitting on the sofa, watching a movie. When the door opened, they all turned, the smiles quickly fading as they caught sight of Blaine.

Kurt lead Blaine into the room and let go of him. "You wait here," Kurt said, and hurried back outside to get Blaine's bag.

When he came back into the house, Blaine was standing in the exact same spot, dripping rainwater. Kurt reentered the room at the same time as Carole, who was carrying two towels. She passed one to Kurt and wrapped the other around Blaine.

"Thanks, Carole," Kurt said, and he and Blaine stood there for a moment, everyone staring at them. The movie was still playing in the background, and the bright, cheery music seemed distinctly out of place given the situation. "Er...Blaine and I are going to my room," Kurt said, and touched Blaine's shoulder to lead him out.

"Kurt," Burt called, standing from the sofa. Kurt stopped and turned, but Blaine kept walking.

"Yeah Dad?"

"What happened?"

Kurt sighed. "Blaine's parents kicked him out."

Burt let out a low whistle. "That's rough."

"I know," Kurt said. "So I told him he could stay here. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is," Carole said, walking up to them. "As long as he needs."

"Now hold on," Burt said, "I'm not so sure about having you guys sleep together...in the same room."

"Really Dad?" Kurt said, glancing over his shoulder at Blaine, who was lingering by the stairs, one hand on the banister and his eyes pointed to the floor. "Something tells me he won't be trying anything tonight."

"Honestly, Burt," Carole said. "Try to be a little sensitive."

"Okay, okay!" Burt said, throwing his hands up. "Just let us know if he needs anything."

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt said, and went over to Blaine. Kurt put his hand on his shoulder and steered him up the stairs and to his room.

"All right, now let's get you out of those wet clothes," Kurt said, pushing Blaine down on the bed. It would leave a wet spot, but whatever. "Blaine," he said, touching his face again. Blaine lifted his eyes, looking at Kurt in despair, but didn't move. Kurt sighed. "Okay then." He started unbuttoning Blaine's shirt himself, and throwing it off to the side when he was done. He rummaged through the duffel bag for a pajama shirt, but-damn, he forgot one. He examined his shirtless boyfriend. Kurt's pajamas would probably fit.

He pulled a navy blue shirt from his bottom drawer and put it on Blaine as best as he could.

Just as Kurt was thinking the job was done, he realized that Blaine was still wearing...jeans. Great. This was going to be awkward. He looked at Blaine's pitiful, listless expression, and hardened his resolve. He could do it...for Blaine. He took a deep breath and knelt down in front of Blaine and started to undo the button, which seemed to bring Blaine back to attention.

"What are you doing?" he said tonelessly. He looked down, seemingly surprised to be wearing a new, dry shirt.

"I was trying to put you in pajamas," Kurt said, turning pink. Blaine looked down again, at the matching pajama pants in a heap next to Kurt, and he laughed. Sadly, emptily, but still he laughed.

"Thank you, Kurt," he said seriously. "But I won't make you do this for me." He picked the pants up and headed for the bathroom.

While he was gone, Kurt changed into his own pajamas and turned down the blankets on the bed, on the side opposite the wet spot.

Blaine came out of the bathroom and looked from Kurt to the bed and shrugged. He laid down, staring at the ceiling.

"Well," Kurt said after a silent moment. "Good night." He started to back out of the room, but Blaine shot up like a rocket.

"Where are you going?" he said, looking oddly like a little kid in the blue pajamas, his hair ruffled.

"I was going to go sleep in the guest room?" Kurt said, but it came out sounding more like a question.

"Don't leave me!" Blaine pleaded. Kurt hesitated, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Okay," he finally said, and went back to the bed. He sat down on the edge, awkwardly, as Blaine laid back down on his side, so he could look at Kurt.

"What's gonna happen, Kurt?" Blaine said softly, and he looked so sad that Kurt lay down too, and put a hand on his face, stroking Blaine's cheek with his thumb.

"I don't know," he answered, and Blaine shut his eyes. "But we'll think of something."

Blaine opened his eyes again, and another tear leaked from his already red eyes. He scooted closer to Kurt and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in Kurt's shoulder.

* * *

The next morning, when Blaine woke up, he was confused to be in Kurt's room. But suddenly, the weight of what had happened hit him full-on. Before he could do anything, though, the door opened and Kurt came in, carrying a tray.

"Oh, you're awake," he said, and sat down on the bed. "I made you breakfast." He put the tray on Blaine's lap as he sat up.

"Thanks," Blaine said quietly, picking up the glass of orange juice and looking over the artful display of bacon, eggs, and toast.

Kurt watched him eat for a moment, neither of them saying anything.

"What are the plans for today?" Blaine asked, once half a piece of toast was gone.

Kurt shrugged. "I think we'll be by ourselves for most of the day...Finn's gone off somewhere, and Carole and Dad went to look at furniture." Blaine nodded solemnly. "What do you want to do?"

Blaine shrugged and flopped back against the pillows. Kurt frowned. "I have an idea," he said, and stood up. "Come downstairs when you're ready."

Blaine watched him leave without saying anything.

Fifteen minutes later, Blaine emerged to find Kurt in the kitchen, washing his hands to the tune of his iPod. There were baking ingredients laid out on the kitchen island, and a cookbook open front and center.

"What are we making, chief?" Blaine said, leaning against the counter.

"Wash your hands," Kurt instructed, flipping a page of the cookbook. "We're baking a cake."

"Okay..." Blaine said. "Why?"

Kurt turned to look at him, hands on his hips. "Because baking can fix anything."

Blaine laughed, legitimately this time. "I think your sassy-stance is a better solution," he said as he crossed to the sink.

Kurt shrugged. "Whatever works."

"Rob Thomas?" Blaine observed as a new song started. "I dig it."

"Oh, you did not just say that," Kurt said, laughing.

Blaine laughed. "_Here we stand, somewhere between this moment and the end, will we bend? Or will we open up and take this whole thing in?_"

"_Everybody else is smiling, and their smiles don't fade_," Kurt cut in. "_And you don't even wonder why, you just don't think that way_-"

"_Maybe you and me got lost somewhere, we can't move on, we can't stay here_!" Blaine sang loudly, breaking into a smile.

Kurt beckoned Blaine closer as they sang, and pointed to something on the page. Blaine danced over to the fridge and pulled out eggs, milk, and butter as Kurt started dumping ingredients into the bowl.

"That was fun," Blaine said, jumping up to sit on the island counter as the song ended.

"I told you," Kurt said as he stirred, "Baking fixes everything."

"I suppose," Blaine said, reaching over and swiping a fingerful of batter from the bowl.

"Watch it, mister!" Kurt said, playfully swatting Blaine's arm.

"Or what?" Blaine said slowly, teasingly, taking another swipe. This time, instead of eating it, he drew it across the bridge of Kurt's nose. Kurt went cross-eyed to watch Blaine's finger across his face.

"Or this," Kurt said with a mischievous grin, as he stuck his hand into the bag of flour and flicked a handful into Blaine's face.

"Oh, well I don't much care for that!" Blaine said, sprinkling brown sugar over Kurt's head.

"Well that's too bad," Kurt whispered, putting a whole batter-covered hand-print across Blaine's face. "Because I like it."

"I like you," Blaine said, leaning forward. He and Kurt stared at each other for a moment before closing the distance between their faces and kissing.

As Kurt kissed Blaine, his hand caressing the gritty, slightly sticky cake ingredients, all he could think was how good Blaine tasted, like chocolate and vanilla and sugar, and slightly of toothpaste. It was very pleasant, as was the way Blaine's hand was gliding over his face, his neck, onto his shoulder. Blaine, who was still sitting on the counter, tensed his legs a little around Kurt, pulling him closer. As they kissed, Kurt felt around on the counter for the sugar. He smiled when he found it, making his and Blaine's teeth touch, which made Blaine smile...until Kurt dropped a handful of sugar down the back of his shirt.

"Oh, you're sneaky!" Blaine said, pulling away. "But not as sneaky as me!" He stuck his hand back into the bowl and flung a handful of batter towards Kurt, splattering it on his face as well as the wall.

"Ooh, you're in trouble now!" Kurt said, mussing his baked-goods-coated hands through Blaine's hair. "Now you look like an old man!" He ran around the island, out of Blaine's reach.

"You'll pay for that one, Hummel!" Blaine said, jumping off the island and running after him.

* * *

Later that evening, Kurt stood in his bathroom, wearing only boxer shorts as he brushed his teeth. The door opened behind him, making him jump.

"Geez, Blaine, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Whoa," Blaine said, looking Kurt up and down. "Sorry!" They both turned a bit pink.

"It's okay," Kurt said, turning back to the mirror and trying to calm his hammering heart. Blaine hesitated by the door, then came to stand behind Kurt, looking at him in the mirror.

"Today was fun," he said simply, and Kurt nodded as he leaned over to rinse his mouth. When he straightened up, they looked at each other in the mirror for a moment.

"You know," Blaine said, breaking the silence. "You have a very attractive shoulder." He lifted his hand to graze it with his fingertips.

Kurt burst out laughing. "What?"

"It's just..." Blaine fingered Kurt's collar bone. "You know...nice. Smooth. I like it."

"Well, I'm glad you approve," Kurt said, still chuckling a little.

"I'm serious, Kurt." He leaned his head down a little to kiss it, and Kurt leaned his head against Blaine's.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Blaine said, lifting his head but keeping his chin on Kurt's shoulder. "It's gonna be heard, I realize that, but I'm lucky to have someone like you who cares enough to help me out."

"Of course I do!" Kurt said. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you out in the cold?"

"A bad one," Blaine said, wrapping his arms around Kurt's bare waist and kissing his neck. "But there's no danger of that."

"A-and why is that?" Kurt said, trying to hold his focus as Blaine drew shapes on his stomach.

"Because you're a very good boyfriend so far..." As Blaine moved his hands up Kurt's chest and back to his shoulders, Kurt suddenly became very conscious of the fact that even though he was only wearing boxers, he wasn't the least bit chilly.

"Is there a problem?" Blaine said in Kurt's ear as he shuddered.

"No," Kurt said unevenly. "No problem at all." Blaine laughed and started to pull away, but Kurt turned and grabbed him again, pulling their faces together. Kurt leaned against the sink, and sure, it was cold as ice against the bare skin of his lower back, but somehow he didn't mind.

"Holy...holy smokes!" Blaine panted as he pulled away. "Wow."

"I don't know why I did that," Kurt said, lowering his eyes and turning back to the sink.

"No," Blaine said. "Don't apologize!"

Kurt smiled. "I'll leave you to your bathroom business."

Kurt lay down on his bed, his heart still beating very fast. He glanced out the window; pitch black, but snow was falling. It was a little late in the year for that, but it had been rainy and below freezing the past few days. He shivered at the thought of snow, and remembered, "Oh yeah, pajamas."

He was just buttoning the last button when Blaine opened the bathroom door and came to sit down on the bed again. He looked sad again.

"It's just weird, you know?" he said without prompting. "Not getting ready for bed in my own bathroom."

Kurt's heart sank. "Just think of it as a sleepover!" he said, trying to sound cheerful. "A...a really long sleepover." He sat down on the bed and leaned against the headboard, and Blaine leaned into him, sighing.

"I'll need to go back eventually, you know," he said. "I can't live out of a duffel bag forever."

"We'll get through it," Kurt said, pressing his cheek to Blaine's hair.

"Besides," he said, "you forgot my hair gel."

Kurt laughed. "Well we can't have that, now, can we? Although I must admit, I think I prefer your hair the natural way."

"Oh really?" Blaine said, sitting up to look at him. "I guess I could go without for a while, then."

Kurt tried to smile, but yawned instead.

Blaine chuckled. "Let's go to bed, sleepyhead."

"Sounds like a plan," Kurt said, laying down. Blaine's feet found his under the covers, and they stayed like that for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry this is so short! I think you'll understand when you reach the end...thank you everyone for the fabulous reviews :]**

**Also, I think this might be getting a little bit into "AU"...but not really, because I'm pretty much only giving a little backstory...oh well.**

* * *

"Wake up!" Kurt said, smacking Blaine with a pillow the next morning. "You snore like a lawnmower," he said, giggling.

"What tiiiiiime is iiiitttt?" Blaine moaned, picking his head up and looking blearily around the room.

"Ten," Kurt said simply, skipping over to the window and opening the blinds.

"Ten?" Blaine yelped, shooting straight up. "What about school?"

"It's cancelled," Kurt said, gesturing out the window to the snow-covered landscape. "There's at least half a foot out there, and it's still falling."

Blaine fell back against the pillows. "You sure are chipper this morning."

Kurt shrugged as he came to sit back on the bed. "Snow days are fun."

"Too cold," Blaine grumbled, sticking his head under the pillow.

"Oh, no, Mister!" Kurt said, pulling the blankets back from Blaine. "I've got another fun day planned!"

Blaine moved his head enough to squint at Kurt with one eye. "Oh really?"

"Well, no, not really. But I thought we'd go get coffee, at least."

Blaine sighed and put his head back under the pillow. "Fiiiine."

Kurt smiled.

* * *

The coffee shop was busy; it seemed like everyone had had the same idea. As Kurt and Blaine stood in line, Kurt felt Blaine's hand slide easily into his, and he swung them back and forth a little, a slight smile on his face. Holding Blaine's hand always warmed his heart.

As they stepped forward in line, the perky blond barista that usually served them caught sight of them, their entwined hands, and her face broke into a smile. She opened her mouth to take their order when suddenly someone tapped Kurt on the shoulder. He and Blaine turned inward, keeping their hands together.

An older woman stood there, her chained glasses sliding down her pinched nose.

"Excuse me," she said in a withering voice, even though she already had their attention. "I don't mean to be rude-" but Kurt had a feeling she would be anyway-"but do you think you boys could..."

"Yes?" Blaine prompted, raising his eyebrows and squeezing Kurt's hand.

The woman started out with a lowered voice, but soon raised it to bring the entire coffee shop's attention to the exchange. "I'm only saying that this public display of affection is making the other patrons uncomfortable."

Blaine looked around. "Is it, now?"

"Blaine, stop," Kurt muttered, trying to pull his hand away as he lowered his eyes, but Blaine held fast.

"No, Kurt. I _won't_ stop holding your hand. Because you are my _boyfriend_ and I _want_ to hold your hand."

The woman stared at him, dumbstruck. "Your behavior is offensive!"

"Blaine," Kurt pleaded, his cheeks flaming red.

"I think you're the offensive one here, ma'am," Blaine said politely. The entire coffee shop had fallen silent, and was now staring at them. "You're the only one who's said anything, after all."

"It's not as if they weren't all thinking it!" she said heatedly, looking around.

Blaine looked around again. When no one spoke up, he said, "You see? No one-"

"Actually," a voice cut him off. "I'll admit it does make me slightly uncomfortable." A middle-aged man in a wind jacket stood up, raising his hand. "I just wasn't bold enough to say anything."

"And I'm not sure how I feel about having my children exposed to this sort of thing," a woman in the back said. Her two kids, a son and daughter, just stared at Kurt and Blaine's hands.

Blaine looked around at all of the people, some of whom were looking away, out the window, or at the floor. Others were staring at them, whether incredulously, or indignantly, or just curiously. He opened his mouth to speak when there was another tap on his shoulder. He turned. A manager of the coffee shop was standing there, and Kurt was blushing even deeper.

"Sir," the manager said, not looking at Blaine. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The blond barista looked at the floor.

Blaine stared at him silently for a moment. "Fine," he said. "Come on, Kurt. Let's go to Starbucks." He tugged Kurt, who was still red as a fire truck, by the hand out of the coffee shop.

"Why did you do that, Blaine?" Kurt hissed as they reached the car.

"Because that makes me so angry, Kurt!" Blaine shouted, kicking a tire. "It isn't fair that you and I have to hide what we have together! It isn't right that we have to be ashamed of each other! Why should I have to keep you, my boyfriend, a secret? Are you ashamed of me, Kurt?"

He said this last part so softly, Kurt wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly. He raised his eyes from the pavement to look at Blaine, who was staring right back at Kurt, the faintest trace of hurt and worry clouding his eyes.

"No," Kurt said softly, then louder. "Of course not. I could never be ashamed of you." _Because I love you_, he thought, and his stomach quivered at the thought. But no, Kurt was quite sure it was true, that he _did_ love Blaine. Of course, he had never been in love before, not even close, but he was pretty sure this was how it felt. He'd never known any feeling but this one with Blaine, or with anyone _but_ Blaine. That was love, right? This quivery, shaky, going-too-fast-but-not-wanting-to-stop-hold-on-to-me-before-I-float-away feeling...was this love? The way their hands fit so perfectly together, the way they always understood each other, even without speaking? The way he sometimes caught Blaine looking at him the same way Burt looked at Carole, and the same way he was sure he looked at Blaine? Was that love?

But now was not the moment to say it, and it wouldn't be the right moment, not until he was sure Blaine felt the same way.

"...Kurt?" Blaine said, and Kurt shook himself.

"What?"

"I asked what you wanted to do now?" Blaine said, staring at Kurt in an odd way. "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" Kurt nodded. "Just...just cold."

Blaine half-smiled. "I'm sorry I got mad. And I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in there."

"No, really..." Kurt said, smiling at him. "I'm sort of glad you did it."

Blaine grinned. "I'm glad I did too."

They ended up going back to Kurt's house, where Kurt made them hot chocolate. They lay on the sofa, their heads at opposite ends, with some cheesy Disney movie playing on the TV in front of them.

"Does this tickle?" Blaine said, stroking the bottom of Kurt's foot and making him squirm.

"Yes!" Kurt squealed, trying to pull his foot away, but Blaine grabbed his ankle and held it.

"Blaine, stop!" he gasped between laughs.

"Who's gonna make me?" Blaine said, leaping across the couch to tickle Kurt's ribs.

"Blaine, Blaine!" Kurt pleaded, trying to squirm away, but Blaine was straddling him, holding him down. "This isn't fair!"

"Life's not fair," Blaine growled in his ear, and turned his face to kiss him.

Kurt was just getting into it when something vibrated between them.

"Damn," Blaine said, sitting up but not getting off of Kurt. He checked his phone's display, and his face fell.

"What is it?" Kurt said, propping himself up on an elbow and still breathing unevenly from laughing so hard.

Blaine swung his legs off of Kurt and passed him the phone. The display read:

**DAD: You need to come by and get the rest of your stuff.**

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt said, shifting closer and putting an arm around his shoulders.

"I guess we'd better do it," Blaine said tonelessly, standing up from the couch. Kurt let his arm fall.

"I...I'll go ask my Dad to borrow the truck," Kurt said, and left the room.

He walked outside to see Blaine leaning against the truck, hands deep in the pockets of the pea coat that was wrapped tightly around him. He stared at the ground, and the sight-and accompanying thoughts-filled Kurt with a mixture of rage and sympathy.

They didn't speak at all on the way to Blaine's house. Blaine just stared out the window, and Kurt focused on keeping control of the vehicle on the snowy road.

When they finally pulled up to Blaine's house, they saw a pile of stuff on the doorstep. Kurt's heart sank, and his eyes flew to Blaine's face, checking for a reaction. Blaine's eyes widened a little, but he let nothing else show.

They got out of the car together and stood side-by-side, facing the mound of stuff. Some clothes were piled unceremoniously on the stoop, some toiletries, odds and ends, and on the very top, a stack of mail.

Blaine bent down to try to pick up the bulk of the load, and knocked the mail to the ground.

"I'll get it," Kurt said, bending to retrieve the mail and the other things Blaine had dropped in his haste.

As Blaine was dumping his stuff in the bed of the truck, Kurt flipped through the letters. A few ads from colleges, something from Dalton, and...what?

The final letter appeared to be a bill of some sort, the little window in the corner showing it addressed to Blaine's parents, and the return address reading...

_Lima County Center for Oncology_.

"Blaine?" Kurt said, not liking the panicky tone his voice had taken on, but he was unable to stop it. "Blaine!" he called sharply, his voice cutting the cold, thin air like a knife.

Blaine lifted his head from the bed of the truck, which he had been struggling to cover with the tarp. "What are you looking at?" he said, frowning as he walked over. He gently pulled the letters from Kurt's grasp, his eyes searching the envelope as if begging for a response. He sighed heavily, and dropped his head in his hands, letting the mail fall to the ground once more.

Kurt said nothing as he wrapped his arms around Blaine, and they stood there in the middle of Blaine's frozen yard, their shared tears freezing in to tracks on their cheeks.

* * *

Somehow, they ended up at the park. They were the only ones there, so they claimed the best swings, the two in the middle, and snaked their arms around the chains and spun in circles, neither of them speaking.

"So..." Kurt said, dragging his toe in the dirt.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Blaine said quietly. "I just...didn't know how. But I was going to...eventually."

Kurt didn't know what to say, so he just nodded and tried to swallow the huge lump in his throat. "Are you...what's going to...what..." His words were coming out wrong, jumbled, so he just fell silent again.

"There's a tumor in my liver," Blaine said simply. He wound the swing up and let it go; he went ricocheting around like a top.

"Oh."

"Kurt?"

"Yeah Blaine?"

"Will you hold my hand?"

Kurt looked up at him, swallowing thickly again and trying to hold back his tears. "Yeah."

Blaine stopped spinning and pulled his hand from his pocket, and Kurt took it almost immediately. They sat still, saying nothing, just enjoying the feeling of having one another's hand in theirs.


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried to keep this as medically accurate as possible (I did a lot of research, haha), so please forgive me if I messed up a little bit on the facts!**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Kurt and Blaine grew even closer. They went on dates weekly, even though Blaine was still staying at the Hummel's. But whether it was mini-golf or pottery-painting or just dinner and a movie, they were determined to keep things as normal as possible. They rarely talked about the...problem. Whenever Blaine had a doctor's appointment, they would take separate cars to school. But Kurt could tell it was starting to get to Blaine.

He'd done his research. Blaine had stage three liver cancer, a type called hepatocellular carcinoma. The doctors didn't really know why he had it, other than the fact that there was a long history of liver troubles on both sides of his family. He'd had surgery before, removing most of it, but it had come back. There wasn't much they could do; Blaine had had chemo before, too, the first time he'd gotten sick, but he'd had an awful reaction, making him even sicker. He'd decided not to go through with it this time, plus...there was no way to afford it. He refused to let Kurt's parents pay, or to even tell them.

Kurt would try to rationalize every night before he fell asleep. He would listen to Blaine's breathing, and sometimes count the breaths, or the seconds between them, trying to convince himself that everything really was okay, that Blaine would get better. But he'd convinced himself that Blaine was living on borrowed time (although, for the moment, Blaine was well enough to continue living normally, but how long could that last?), and so he was doing his best to jam-pack their time together with as much love-soaked, couple-y stuff as he could.

He was trying to hard to keep strong, but it was so difficult. He constantly reminded himself that however hard it was for him, it was a million times worse for Blaine. And he was doing an awful job of being a caring boyfriend. He would need to do something.

He rolled over to face Blaine in the dark. Blaine was asleep, his eyelids fluttering ever so slightly as he dreamed; Kurt wondered about what. At least Burt seemed to trust them enough at this point to at least keep quiet about them sharing a room, for which Kurt was glad; he would never cry about this in front of Blaine.

* * *

One Tuesday morning, as they were getting ready for school, Blaine looked up from his cereal and said, "Hey, um, I have an appointment today."

Kurt stiffened, as he always did when _It_ was mentioned. "Okay," he said, then added, "Um...can I...come with you?"

He heard Blaine lay down his spoon, but Kurt kept his face turned towards the toaster, waiting for the two perfectly golden-brown halves of English muffin to leap from the heated coils.

"Why?" he said.

Kurt shrugged, and he felt tears welling up. Stupid tears. "I just...feel like I should."

"It's not a nice place, Kurt," Blaine said, and Kurt nodded.

"I know," he said, but it came out as a whisper. He heard Blaine stand up, and when he felt Blaine's warm arms wind around him, he let his tears fall. He wiped his eyes, trying to hide them from Blaine. "Sorry," he said. "Stupid-"

"Kurt," Blaine said, taking hold of Kurt's wrists and pulling him around to face him. Blaine's eyes searched Kurt's face for a minute. "Kurt..."

"I'm sorry, Blaine," Kurt whispered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting upset like this. You're the sick one, I'm the one who should be comforting you, it's stupid for me to-"

"Kurt, it's not stupid," Blaine interrupted him. "You're doing enough just by being here. Do you think I would still be sane if I was still at home? No one has ever been there for me the way you have been. And I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything. Because you don't, Kurt. You're doing enough."

Kurt didn't know what to say. They were silent for another moment until the toaster popped, making them both jump and then laugh.

"I really am sorry, though," Kurt said as he removed his English muffin.

"And I really don't want you to be," Blaine replied as he rinsed his bowl out in the sink. "And I don't want you to come to the appointment today if you don't want to."

"But I do want to," Kurt said, and in that moment, he realized he really did. "It isn't fair to make you deal with this on your own."

Blaine smiled as he reached for Kurt's hand. "Thanks, Kurt."

* * *

"Ready to go?" Blaine asked Kurt as he sidled up to him at his locker that afternoon.

"Mm-hmm," Kurt hummed, afraid of what would happen if he opened his mouth. Blaine looked at him, calculating.

"You really don't have to go if you don't want to," he said. "I won't mind if you wait in the car...it's not a happy place."

"No," Kurt said firmly, shutting his locker with a snap. "I'm going with you."

Blaine looked slightly surprised, his eyebrows raised. "Okay, then," he said, and took Kurt's hand.

* * *

With more time spent together came more things learned about each other. Blaine found Kurt's backlogged collection of every issue of _Vogue_ ever published since 1952, and Kurt found out Blaine's secret pleasue: country music.

Of course, Blaine would always be a strictly Top-40s kind of boy at heart, but every now and again-or every day-he liked to indulge in a little good old fashioned southern twang. And Kurt tried his best to love him in spite of this, so he didn't complain when Blaine started twiddling the radio dial as soon as they got into the car.

Kurt especially didn't mind it when Blaine sang along, and it was all he could do to watch the road instead of Blaine.

Finally, they arrived at the oncology center. Kurt found himself feeling irrationally nervous, and tried to push the feelings away. Blaine sighed and looked up at the building wearily. Kurt had to admit, it was very intimidating, and if he'd had his way he would pull out right now and never look back. But he was here for Blaine, who was expecting him to be strong, and not run away before they even got inside.

"So," Kurt said, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning the radio down. "Let's go."

Blaine looked relieved that Kurt was the one to move first, and he promptly seized Kurt's hand once they were on the sidewalk, and Kurt squeezed it reassuringly.

The waiting room wasn't at all what Kurt expected it to be. But then again, he wasn't exactly sure what he had expected in the first place. Thin, sallow-skinned patients sitting like withered plants in the chairs? Bald children? People with deformities caused by surgeries and tumors-like Blaine's?

_STOP_, he told himself. _You're being ridiculous. Not everyone who has cancer looks like it_. He watched Blaine as he signed in across the room. _And Blaine will be fine._

"So?" Blaine said as he sat down, clipboard in hand.

"It's not so bad," Kurt said, looking around at the pale yellow walls covered in inspirational posters and cards to the doctors from patients. There was a Lego table in the corner, surrounded by toys, and a little girl in a pink dress and patent leather shoes played by herself while a woman nearby read a magazine. The television in the corner was playing a talk show, where the host and guest were discussing gay rights.

"Not what you expected, is it?" Blaine said, chuckling as he folded his legs to lean against them as he filled out the forms on the clipboard.

"What are those?" Kurt asked, leaning over to read over Blaine's shoulder.

He moved aside so Kurt could see better. "Just a questionnaire. Dr. Watts likes to see how I'm doing whenever I come in."

_On a scale of one to ten, describe how you've been feeling lately._

_Have you been experiencing any pain?_

_If so, rate this pain on a scale of one to ten._

Kurt's heart sank. Blaine tried to shield the answers he was marking from Kurt without Kurt noticing.

Kurt noticed.

When Blaine stood up to return the clipboard, Kurt picked up a magazine from the table in front of him, pretending to read to make Blaine think he felt normal. Which he totally didn't.

"_Pregnant In The Workplace_, huh?" Blaine said, walking back to his chair. "Personally I would have gone with _Motherhood Today_, but that's just me." He smiled as Kurt blushed and tossed the magazine back on the table. Kurt opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

"Blaine Anderson? The doctor will see you know," a middle-aged nurse wearing a Finding Nemo scrub top said, beckoning to them from a door behind the counter.

"That was fast," Kurt muttered, and Blaine chuckled.

"They don't mess around here. They don't waste time." Kurt knew he'd meant it as a joke, but he couldn't stop his stomach from clenching anyway.

The nurse led them down a wide, brightly-lit hallway and instructed Blaine to step on a scale, then recorded his height. So far, not much different from a regular doctor, right? Kurt thought to himself. She pointed them into an exam room and shut the door.

She came back a moment later, wheeling a cart. She took Blaine's blood pressure, listened to his chest and abdomen, and took a blood sample. "The doctor will be in soon," she said, and left a paper gown on the table.

"I'll step out while you change," Kurt said, standing up, but Blaine put a hand on his arm.

"It's fine, Kurt." Kurt blushed a little, but sat back down.

"I always hate getting blood drawn," Blaine said conversationally as he unbuttoned his shirt.

"You seemed to handle it okay," Kurt replied, trying not to stare at Blaine's very exposed and very appealing chest.

Blaine shuddered. "I'm afraid of needles. I was trying to be brave."

Kurt smiled. "Courage," he said, and Blaine laughed as he unbuttoned his pants.

Blaine was now standing in only his boxers in front of Kurt, who was now staring very pointedly at the wall.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Blaine asked nervously.

"Not at all," Kurt said, forcing himself to turn back to Blaine, who had an arm wrapped around his ribcage and was biting his lip. Blaine shrugged and put the paper smock on, and turned his back to Kurt. "Tie me up?"

Kurt stood, and, with shaking hands, clumsily tied the strings. Just as he was pulling it tight, there was a knock on the door, and a black-haired man with glasses came into the room.

"Hello, Blaine," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And who's your friend?"

"This is Kurt," Blaine said, hopping back onto the table as Kurt sat down. "He's my boyfriend."

Kurt felt his jaw drop a little as Blaine said it, but the doctor didn't look surprised.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt," he said, offering his hand. "And how are we doing today, Blaine?"

"As well as could be expected," Blaine said.

"I see on your chart you've been experiencing low levels of discomfort," the doctor said, looking down at his clipboard.

Blaine looked sideways at Kurt. "Er...yeah, I guess."

Dr. Watt looked up at Blaine's uncertain tone. "You need to be honest with me, Blaine. Do you need Kurt to leave?"

Blaine shook his head.

"We're going to need to run additional tests today," the doctor said, flipping a page on his clipboard. "More x-rays, a CT scan, things like that."

Blaine sighed heavily.

* * *

Half an hour later, Blaine returned to the exam room.

"How'd it go?" Kurt asked casually, as if they were talking about the weather.

"I hate getting CAT scans," Blaine said, leaning against the bed. "It's scary."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, half reaching his hand towards Blaine, but letting it fall. Blaine didn't notice.

"Blaine?" the nurse said, poking her head into the room. "We need you for just one more thing."

Blaine sighed again and left the room, leaving Kurt alone.

A minute later, Dr. Watt came into the room.

"The nurse took Blaine out for something," Kurt said as the doctor shut the door.

"Actually, Kurt, it's you I wanted to talk to." Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm not sure if you realize this, but you're doing a good thing for Blaine by coming with him today. Too many times over the years I've seen that boy walk through the front doors of this building, head held high, alone. He doesn't show it, but this is hard on him." The doctor removed his glasses to polish them on his shirt. "And I think you being here, with him, is making it a hell of a lot easier."

Kurt didn't say anything, partially because he was afraid if he opened his mouth he would cry. So he just nodded.

"But now I have to ask you something."

Kurt looked up nervously from his hands in his lap. "Yes?"

"Blaine's parents haven't been very active in his treatments lately, and the bills haven't been getting paid. Now, we've tried to hold off because Blaine has been a patient here for so long." He sighed heavily as he replaced his glasses. "Blaine's in a fragile state right now, and won't answer questions, but we need to know, Kurt. Is something going on at Blaine's house?"

Kurt hesitated. How should he answer this? Of course he should tell the doctor, obviously. But then what would happen? Could they force Blaine's parents to take him back? What if they took Blaine away?

"I-"

At that moment, Blaine pushed open the door. He looked surprise to see the doctor in there.

"Excellent, Blaine you're finished," Dr. Watt said, standing up and clapping his hands. "Just give me a moment to review the images and I'll be ready to talk." Blaine nodded. "And you can get dressed again," he added, and gave Kurt one last serious look.

"What was that all about?" Blaine asked once the door was shut. He was struggling to undo the knot that, in his nervousness, Kurt had tied ridiculously tight.

"He came to talk to me about...you," Kurt said, standing and coming to Blaine's rescue. He brushed Blaine's hands away and began working on the knot. Damn, it was tight. "He asked what was going on at home."

"What'd you say?"

"I didn't say anything. You came in before I could." Kurt finally got it undone, and let the loosened smock fall off of Blaine's shoulders. Blaine turned to face him. "We're going to have to tell my parents, Blaine. We can't keep not paying. The office has already held them because you've been coming here for so long, but they can't hold them forever."

"I just don't know what to do, Kurt," Blaine pleaded. "I can't let your parents pay for this, do you know how-"

"Yes Blaine, I do know how expensive it is. But you're more important." He pulled Blaine in close to him. "We have to do something. We'll figure it out."

"We always do," Blaine said, his forehead resting on Kurt's shoulder. As Kurt started rubbing small circles on Blaine's bare back, the though occurred to him: "Um, you should probably get dressed before the nurse comes back."

Blaine laughed a little and stepped back and began to pull his pants on.

"You're not alone," Kurt said, more to himself than Blaine, and so soft that Blaine didn't hear him. "You'll always have me."

* * *

"As you can see," Dr. Watt was saying, outlining something on the x-ray that was hooked to the lighted board. Blaine and Kurt were seated in front of Dr. Watt's desk, gripping each other's hands. Blaine had crossed his legs and was rubbing Kurt's leg with his foot. Kurt knew it was supposed to be relaxing, but...it wasn't working.

"This is the growth last month," the doctor said, gesturing to the picture on the left. "And this is it today." The one in the picture on the right was at least twice as big. Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand, and he squeezed back. "So we have two options," Dr. Watt said, sitting down behind his desk and folding his hands. "We can try another removal surgery, or..."

"Or what?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt.

"We can try a transplant. That's probably our best bet, but it's quite a bit more difficult, not to mention expensive...first off, we'd have to find a donor, then there's the preparation and actual procedure..."

"Well, finding a donor shouldn't be difficult, should it? I'll do it," Kurt said, matter-of-factly.

"Kurt-" Blaine said, but the doctor cut him off.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple, or we'd have plenty of transplants to go around. The donor would have to be a match, and even if you were, we don't usually allow for transplants involving donors under the age of eighteen. It's a big decision."

"But I'm certain I want to do it," Kurt said adamantly. "Why wouldn't I? I've researched it, it grows back!"

"What?" Blaine asked incredulously, turning to face him.

"It does! If I gave you half of my liver, the rest would grow back! For both of us!"

"No, not that," Blaine said, smiling a little. "You researched it?"

Kurt turned slightly pink. "Well, yeah."

"Boys," the doctor interrupted them, clearing his throat. "No matter how much you may want to, Kurt, I still recommend we try to find an older donor."

Kurt frowned and opened his mouth to retort, but the doctor cut him off.

"It's the healthiest option. For you _and_ Blaine."

"So what now?" Blaine asked, looking at the doctor and squeezing Kurt's hand in gratitude.

"Well, for now, you'll be put on a waiting list. Your condition isn't dire at the moment, so there's no need to put you on the emergency transplant list."

"Thank you, doctor." Blaine said.

* * *

Later that evening, Kurt and Blaine were taking a walk around Kurt's neighborhood. It was bitterly cold outside, and there was snow piled on the sidewalk, but they tried to ignore as best as they could.

"Thanks for coming with me today," Blaine said quietly, kicking a rock down the sidewalk.

"I wanted to, really," Kurt said, pulling his hand out of his jacket pocket to touch Blaine's arm. Blaine looked at him and smiled.

"I can see your breath," he said, and Kurt laughed.

"I can see yours too."

They stopped walking for a minute, taking turns sighing to see who could expel the biggest puffs of steam, which made them laugh and made the clouds even bigger.

"You know, you're really cute when your cheeks are pink like that," Blaine said suddenly, touching Kurt's face with the back of his hand. Kurt blushed, and Blaine chuckled. They continued walking, their arms linked so they could keep their hands in their pockets. Suddenly, a car drove by, blaring the horn, making Kurt jump away from the edge of the sidewalk.

"Jesus!" he shouted. "What the hell is their problem?"

"Probably just some stupid kid," Blaine said, shrugging it off. "I'll walk on the outside now," he said, and switched sides with Kurt. Now, though, he withdrew his hand from his coat and took Kurt's, despite the bone-chilling temperature.

"So, at the doctor today," Blaine said a few moments later. "Did you really research...what I have?"

"Well, yeah," Kurt said, shrugging. "I wanted to be well informed."

"Did what you read scare you?"

"A little," Kurt said honestly, and Blaine stopped walking again.

"I don't want you to be scared," he said, leaning very close to Kurt's face. Kurt's heart kicked into overdrive as he felt Blaine's warm breath on his face.

"I...I can't help it," Kurt said, and as Blaine closed his eyes and leaned in a little more, they heard the screeching of car tires.

"Fags!" the driver shouted, and sped off. Blaine leaned away and stared angrily after the car, but it was too dark to see.

"Stupid-" he started to say, but Kurt interrupted him.

"I want to go home," Kurt said simply, and Blaine frowned.

"Okay," he said, and took Kurt's hand again. On the inside, Kurt was fuming. What the hell kind of bullshit was this? He knew that being gay was going to be hard. _No surprises there_, he thought, what with Karofsky and every other shitty thing that had ever happened to him because of who he was. But this was different. Now he was with Blaine, who could be _dying_, and true, there was no way for the drive-byer to know that, but still. What kind of psycho drove around a neighborhood just to-

"Ow!" Blaine suddenly shouted, ripping his hand away from Kurt's to clutch his face.

"Blaine? What-oh!" Kurt said, interrupted by a blow to the face. Confused, he looked down. There was a pile of dirty snow at his feet and...a rock? A _rock_? Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was hit by another, and another-someone was throwing snowballs at them. No, _ice_balls. With _rocks_ in them.

"What the hell is going on?" Kurt cried in frustration, looking around for their attackers, but he could see no one, only hear the malicious laughter and air whizzing by yet another rock-loaded ice ball.

"I don't know!" Blaine shouted, "Just run!" Kurt didn't move-he was still struck dumb by what was happening. It wasn't until Blaine seized his hand and yanked him forward did his feet finally start moving.

They sprinted down the street, staying out of the circles of streetlights, diving behind bushes at the sound of an approaching car.

Finally, covered in dirt and snow and ice, they got to Kurt's house without running into any more trouble. Kurt flipped on the front hall light and examined Blaine's face.

"Damn," his whispered, "They got you good." There was a small cut above Blaine's eyebrow, and his lip was bleeding. There was ice on his shoulders, and his palms were scraped from so much diving.

"You too," Blaine said, using his sleeve to dab at Kurt's forehead.

"Let's go get cleaned up before my Dad sees," Kurt said, and Blaine nodded. They started to tiptoe through the foyer, when suddenly Burt appeared in the doorway by the stairs.

"Before Dad sees what?" he asked suspiciously, and gasped. "What the-what the hell happened?"

"We were taking a walk," Kurt said, gripping Blaine's hand behind his back. "And some guys in a car-"

"Who?" Burt demanded, looking murderous.

"We don't know," Blaine said, shaking his head, "We couldn't see them."

"They drove by and...and called us...fags," Kurt said slowly, and Burt winced slightly at the slur. "And then we were walking back and someone-"

"It was the same guys," Blaine interrupted, "But they weren't in the car anymore."

"And they started throwing ice balls at us, and some of them had rocks in them."

Burt threw his hat to the floor angrily. "Dammit! We need to call the police or-"

"No, Dad," Kurt said quickly. "Don't. We didn't see who did it, there's no way we could catch them."

"I still think-"

"No, Dad." Burt searched his son's face for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine," he said.

"Let's go, Blaine," Kurt said quietly, and pulled him up the stairs.

* * *

While Blaine was in the shower, Kurt went to the kitchen to get some painkillers. On the way, he ran into his dad.

"I need to talk to you, Kurt," Burt said, taking in his son's scratched face and the carefully applied band-aid on his forehead.

"Dad, I'm serious. Blaine and I couldn't see anything. Not the license plate, not the driver, not even the car."

"Not about that," Burt said, dropping his voice. "Finn said he saw you and Blaine leaving the Lima Center for Oncology this afternoon."

Kurt tried to keep a straight face, but it was hard when, internally, he was running around in circles. _Oh crap, we're caught we're caught we're caught._ Upon further reflection, though, Kurt realized this was a good thing. They weren't alone anymore. So Kurt thought it was okay to break down, and that's exactly what he did.

He collapsed straight into his father, who embraced him in surprise. "It's okay, it's okay!" Burt said, awkwardly patting Kurt's head. "Er, here..." he said, and steered Kurt to the table where, just a few weeks earlier, they had had a painfully awkward talk about sex.

"Blaine's...got...cancer..." Kurt wailed between heaving sobs. He could hear Finn and Carole fall silent in the next room. Carole said something that sounded like "upstairs", and he heard someone climb up the stairs. A second later, Carole was in the doorway, holding a box of tissues. "H-he's g-g-g-got a t-tumor," Kurt sobbed, taking a few tissues. "H-he didn't w-w-want m-me to t-tell you be-because he d-didn't want us to pay."

Burt and Carole exchanged a glance.

"Try to calm down, Kurt," Burt said, "And explain again."

"Blaine's got cancer!" Kurt shouted, and collapsed forward onto the table.

Suddenly, Blaine appeared in the doorway, damp towel in hand and his wet hair tousled. He looked from Kurt's wilted form to Burt to Carole and hung his head. Carole led him to the seat beside Kurt, and sat down, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"When I was younger," Blaine said, taking a deep breath, "I was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma. There's a tumor on my liver, and the doctor said...the doctor said it's getting worse."

Burt and Carole exchanged another glance. "But what about treatments?" Carole asked. "Are you getting chemo therapy?"

Blaine shook his head and absentmindedly reached over to rub Kurt's heaving shoulder. "I have really bad reactions to it," he explained. "When I had it before my family decided I was better off without it. And for a while, I was. But...it came back, I guess."

"So what happens now?" Burt asked seriously, as Kurt let loose a particularly loud sob.

Blaine sighed heavily. "I need a donor."

"Well of course one of us will do it," Carole said, and Burt nodded.

Blaine raised his head. "No, I couldn't ask for that. You've already let me stay in your house-"

"Blaine, stop," Burt said firmly. "Don't say that like it makes a difference. You don't owe us anything, and this is your life we're talking about. You mean a hell of a lot to my son, and I'll be damned if anything happens to you that I could put a stop too."

"Don't be ridiculous," Carole said, and Blaine's eyes teared up slightly.

"Y-you'll have to be tested," Kurt said in a quivering voice as he raised his head from his arms. "The d-d-d-doctor says you have to be a perfect match. I would do it, but he s-said they r-recommend donors be over eighteen."

"Then we'll get tested first thing Monday morning," Carole said, patting Burt's hand.

"Both of us," Burt said.

Blaine reached over and squeezed Kurt's hand. "Thank you, so much, for everything," he said, a single tear leaking out of his eye.


	6. Chapter 6

Burt Hummel was not a religious man. He was not close to God, and he didn't pray on a regular basis. The last time he had been in a church was when he got married to Carole. But that night, while Carole was in the shower, Burt Hummel crawled out of bed, got on his knees by the window, and clasped his hands.

"God," he said in a lowered voice. He hesitated, then started again. "Er, Lord, Heavenly Father...whoever." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I know I don't pray a lot, not nearly as often as I should. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I lost my faith all those years ago, when...she died. I didn't understand why You did that; I still don't, and I probably never will. But I think when You gave me Carole...some of that faith got restored. But I still didn't..." he paused, dropping his hands and running them over his hair. After a moment, he began again. "Anyway," he said, closing his eyes. "This isn't about me. This is about Kurt, my son. I know people say that You don't like people like him, but God...I just don't believe that. There is nothing wrong with Kurt or the way he lives his life. He's a good kid. He's a good person." Burt stopped and shook his head again. "But that's not what this is about either." He took a deep breath. "You took Elizabeth away from me, God, and that was the worst thing that ever happened to me. For months-for maybe even years-I thought I would never get over it. You took her from me, so suddenly, so harshly, I could barely comprehend what had happened, I could barely comprehend the pain. But then...then You gave me Carole, and that's made it...easier." Burt looked at the sky through the window. "And now...now I think You're taking Blaine from Kurt. And God...I'm asking you, please, please don't. I know what it's like to lose the one you're in love with, and it's hell. And I don't want Kurt to have to face that. Please, God, keep Blaine safe." Burt rocked back when he was finished, thinking. Then he sat up and added, "In Jesus' name I pray...amen."

* * *

The next morning, Kurt woke early, before anyone else in the house. He watched Blaine's sleeping form for a moment, thinking, then gently rose from the bed and got dressed.

He left the house, bundled in his coat and scarf and squinting against the bright sunlight glinting off the snow in the yard. It was absolutely freezing out, almost unbearably so, but Kurt didn't notice as he climbed into his car and started the engine.

He drove without thinking; the road to this place was so familiar by now he could probably have made the trip in his sleep. But no matter how many times he pulled up in this parking lot, the exact same spot-three to the left of the entrance-the site of the looming cemetery gates brought a cold, biting pain into his chest.

"Hi, Mom," he said softly as he settled on the ground in front of the familiar grave, leaning against it and turning his face towards the white sky. The wind was blowing a little, stinging his cheeks and ruffling his hair, and there was a little bit of snow falling. "I'm sorry I've been away for so long." He took a deep breath, swallowing hard. "I miss you. But you knew that. I always miss you." He took another shaky breath and started speaking very fast. "Do you remember Blaine? The boy I told you about? Well, he kissed me." Kurt felt his heart speed up at the very thought. "He likes me, Mom, and he cares about me. And I like him too, a lot. I think...I think I might even...love him." Kurt was silent for a moment. "No, I'm almost positive I do. I wish you were here to talk about it, so I could ask you what love feels like...but I think you would say that it feels like this, what I'm feeling right now as I talk to you, even though...even though you're gone." Kurt sniffed and wiped his cheeks. "But Blaine is dying, Mom. He has cancer. And I'm so afraid he's going to...that he's going to die. And I don't know what I would do if that happened." He sniffed again, and wiped his nose with his sleeve, laughing a little. "You always told me not to do that, not to wipe my nose with my sleeve, but I left the tissues in the car this time." He was silent again, watching the breeze kick up small whirlwinds of snow that danced across the lanes before him.

"It's not fair, Mom," Kurt said suddenly. Then, again, "It's not fair!" He pounded his open palm against the frozen ground-it stung, but he didn't care. "There are so many things that aren't fair, Mom, and I wish you were here because you always knew what to do! But that's part of what's not fair, that you're not here. It's not fair what happened to you, and it's not fair what's happening to Blaine, and it's just...it's so unfair! And sometimes I worry that I can't handle it, so then I come here, and talk to you like you're listening, like you can still hear me..._can_ you still hear me?" He asked hopefully, once more turning his gaze skyward. He laughed sadly. "No." He picked up a handful of snow and let it sift through his fingers. "But I miss you, Mom, and I love you so much. That's why I keep coming back to talk to you, because I never want to forget you." Kurt was crying harder now. "But I love him too, Mom, a lot, and I don't know what I would do if I lost him too," he whispered.

"Kurt?" someone said behind him, and he whipped around. It was Blaine, holding a ring of flowers with both hands and staring at him uncertainly. Kurt wondered how much he had heard.

"H-how did you know I was here?" Kurt stammered.

Blaine smiled, a little sadly, and looked at the ground. "Your dad guessed you might be here."

Kurt laughed hollowly.

"Do you come here a lot?" Blaine asked, walking over to lean against the headstone opposite Kurt. He stretched out his legs; the soles of their shoes were almost touching.

Kurt shrugged. "When I get upset."

"You really miss her, don't you?" Blaine asked quietly, and Kurt nodded. "That was a stupid question. I'm sorry," Blaine blushed, looking down.

"It's okay," Kurt said, nudging Blaine's foot with his toe. "I'm glad you came...and thanks for bringing flowers. I usually do, but the florist was closed when I drove by."

"I've never met your mom before," Blaine said, getting on his knees and crawling over. "I thought it would only be polite to bring flowers the first time."

Kurt smiled and leaned against Blaine. "That was very thoughtful of you."

They sat there like that for a while, Kurt's head on Blaine's shoulder, his hand laid over Blaine's on the wreath in their laps. After a while, Kurt sighed. "I guess we can't stay here all day."

Blaine stood. "You're right, I suppose. Mercedes texted me asking if we want to get coffee." He held out his hand to help Kurt up. He brushed the snow out of Kurt's hair and off his shoulder, and Kurt smiled, leaning into his hand.

"Let's go."

Blaine took Kurt's hand and they walked away. Kurt only looked back once this time.

_I love you, Mom._

* * *

Blaine drove them both to the coffee shop; they would stop by to get Kurt's car later. As Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt, Blaine did the same and lunged across the center console, seizing Kurt's face, and suddenly, they were kissing.

But this wasn't just kissing...this was _kissing_. In the front seat of Blaine's car outside of the Lima Bean, where Mercedes was probably waiting for them and where anyone could see, but Blaine didn't seem to care as he brushed his hand over Kurt's face and to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Kurt gasped a little as Blaine opened his mouth, and Blaine laughed.

After a minute, when Blaine pulled away, leaving Kurt breathless, Kurt asked, "What was that for?"

Blaine laughed again. "Just needed to get it out of my system." He opened his door and got out, leaving Kurt alone for a second, his heart still hammering, before Blaine opened his door for him.

They walked in to find Mercedes sitting alone at a table in the back; she waved at them, and Kurt held up a finger to let her know they'd be there shortly.

The usual blond barista was working, and she looked relieved to see them.

"Hi, sirs," she said. "Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened last time you were here. That woman has been coming here for a long time and Jim-my boss, I mean-was real torn up he had to ask you to leave. You guys have always been such good customers, and we were afraid we'd lost you."

"Yeah, with the amount of coffee this guy drinks, you'd probably lose half your business," Kurt said, pointing his thumb at Blaine, who nudged him with his elbow.

"Shut up," he said, rolling his eyes, and the barista laughed.

"What can I get you guys?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Mercedes and Kurt were laughing uproariously at a joke Blaine was telling.

"Blaine, how come I never knew you were this funny?" Mercedes said, wiping her eyes.

Blaine shrugged as he took another sip of his coffee. "It's a gift."

"And you're so modest!" Kurt said, playfully slapping his arm.

Blaine laughed. "Hey, I'll be right back," he said, standing up and walking towards the restrooms in the back.

Kurt turned back to Mercedes. "So, how's-what?"

Mercedes was looking at Kurt in a strange way, almost...smug.

"What?" Kurt asked again, feeling self-conscious. _Is my hair messed up? Did I spill coffee on myself? Do my clothes not match? Wait...of course my clothes match...so what is up with her?_

"You are so in love with him," Mercedes said, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of her drink.

"I-what? That's...that's preposterous!" Kurt sputtered, blushing deeply and hastily taking a huge gulp of his coffee.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Kurt, don't even try to lie to me. I know you too well." Mercedes leaned forward and put her hand over Kurt's. "It's okay, though. It's okay to be in love with him, because if I can read him as well as I can read you, then I think he loves you too."

"Mercedes, stop," Kurt said, his heart fluttering at the thought. And Blaine wasn't even _there_.

"Why? Do you _not_ love him?"

"Mercedes."

"Kurt, just admit it-"

"Mercedes, Blaine is dying!" Kurt said without meaning to, and he clapped a hand over his mouth as Mercedes' jaw dropped.

"_What_?" she cried incredulously.

"Sh!" Kurt pleaded, looking over his shoulder for Blaine. "I-I don't think he wants people to know!"

"Kurt-"

"Mercedes, please!" Kurt began tearing up just thinking about it. He sat silently for a moment, then said, "He's got liver cancer."

Mercedes gasped again. Kurt stiffened as he felt Blaine's hand on his shoulder.

* * *

An hour later, Blaine and Kurt were rolling to a stop beside Kurt's car in the cemetery parking lot.

"You told Mercedes," Blaine said quietly. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Kurt said, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-it just...it slipped out."

Blaine looked at him. "No...I'm glad you did. It wasn't fair to expect you to deal with this on your own."

"But I'm not on my own," Kurt said. "I have you!"

"And I don't always expect to be enough," Blaine said seriously. "You're not always going to need only me."

Kurt was confused. "No, Blaine, you _are_ enough! You're more than enough! I-" _love you_, Kurt thought. Damn, that was the second time he'd had to catch himself. "You will always _be_ enough."

Blaine smiled, a little sadly. "I'll see you at home."

* * *

Monday morning, the first day of Kurt and Blaine's spring break, Kurt woke up with a pounding headache.

"Uuuuuugh," he moaned, burying his head under his pillow.

"What wrong?" Blaine asked, rolling over to face him.

"Don't feel gooooood."

Blaine wormed his hand under the pillow. "Good Lord, Kurt, you're on fire." He jumped out of the bed and trotted into the bathroom. He returned seconds later, thermometer in hand. "Open," he ordered, and Kurt did so.

"Yup, 101," Blaine said, reading the tiny digital display a minute later. "What else is wrong?"

Kurt sniffed loudly through a stuffed nose. "Everythiiiing."

Blaine laughed. "At least there's no school to miss."

"Yeah, dat's exactly what I want to hear, I'b sick on spring break."

"Poor baby," Blaine said softly, petting Kurt's hair. Kurt fell back to sleep, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of Blaine's fingers combing through his hair.

* * *

When Kurt woke up again several hours later, he still felt awful. Worse than before. But it gave him great comfort to realize that Blaine hadn't moved. Well, evidently he had at some point, because he was wearing different clothes and was reading a magazine, but the point was he was still sitting right where he had been when Kurt shut his eyes. Kurt sniffed, and Blaine looked up.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Awful," Kurt said, covering his eyes with his arm.

"Do you want anything?" Blaine asked. "Something to drink? Hot chocolate?"

"Yes please," Kurt said, and Blaine bounded out of the room.

Two minutes later, he was back, cradling a steaming mug of cocoa.

"You're an angel," Kurt said, propping himself against the headboard and taking the mug. Before Blaine could answer, his phone buzzed.

"Who was that?" Kurt asked, gingerly sipping the hot beverage.

"Warbler Jeff," Blaine said, reading the text message.

"You refer to theb as 'Warblers', eben outside of school?" Kurt chuckled. "Dat's funny."

"It's just a habit," Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"What'd he want?"

"To know if we wanted to go see a movie with him and some of the others."

"Well, obviously I can't, but I hope you have fun," Kurt said, avoiding Blaine's eyes, lest he see the hurt in his eyes at the thought of being left alone.

Blaine looked up from the reply he was tapping out. "Are you kidding? I'm not going anywhere, not while you're this sick. Who would make you chicken noodle soup?"

"Since when are you able to cook?" Kurt teased. "You're really going to stay here with be?"

Blaine laughed. "Of course not! I would be too worried about you the whole time," he said. "It'd probably be really annoying."

"Blaine..." Kurt said, but Blaine put a finger on his mouth.

"Don't be silly," Blaine said. "But if you really want me to leave, I will."

"No!" Kurt said, a little too quickly, and Blaine laughed.

"Then I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Later, Blaine and Kurt were lying on Kurt's bed, watching _The Little Mermaid_. Much to Kurt's enjoyment, Blaine sang along with "Part of Your World."

"That was always my favorite Disney song," Blaine said when it was over.

"You know, I used to pretend to be Princess Ariel when I was little," Kurt admitted. "Don't judge me."

"Of course not," Blaine said, grinning. He leaned down to whisper in Kurt's ear: "I think you'd make a very good Princess Ariel." He started to kiss Kurt's neck, working his way over to his mouth, but Kurt turned away.

"You're going to get sick," Kurt said, trying with all his might to resist his boyfriend's wandering mouth.

"I don't particularly care," Blaine said, trying to turn Kurt's face back towards him.

"But I do," Kurt said, losing his willpower quickly.

"You're so...caring," Blaine said, kissing a line up Kurt's jaw.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Kurt said.

"It is when I want to do this," Blaine whispered, scooting even closer to Kurt and twisting their legs together so he was basically on top of him.

"I want to too," Kurt moaned. "Believe me, I do. But you do not want to feel like I do now."

"If this will make you feel better then I do," Blaine said, nuzzling Kurt's neck with the tip of his nose. Kurt was suddenly very aware of Blaine's wandering hand...it was currently somewhere between his bellybutton and the waistband of his pajamas.

"Blaine-" Kurt tried to say, but it was coming increasingly difficult to form coherent words.

Suddenly, the front door slammed.

"Damn," Blaine said, rolling off of Kurt. "Finn's home."

"Good thing, too," Kurt said, breathing heavily. "You're going to be the death of me."

Blaine laughed as he snaked his arm around Kurt and turned his attention back to the movie.

"You know what I love about you?" Blaine said suddenly.

"Hm?" Kurt asked. He was laying on his front, ignoring the movie. He'd almost been asleep again when Blaine spoke, and started tracing shapes on his back.

"You care. A lot. About little things."

"You like that I'm OCD?" Kurt asked. "That feels good, by the way. Really good."

"I think it's cute," he replied, tracing the shape of a tree onto Kurt's back. "Try to guess what I'm drawing."

"A tree," Kurt said, his stomach fluttering, as it always did when Blaine complimented him.

"I also like how...attractive you are," Blaine said. "Guess."

"Um...a dog?" Kurt said, distracted by the route the conversation had taken.

"Close," Blaine said. "A cat." He drew some more. "I also love your shoulders."

"You've told me that before."

Blaine shrugged. "They're just really nice."

"A car."

"Well, technically a bus," Blaine said.

"What else?"

"Your ears," Blaine said, tweaking one before he continued with his drawings.

"Why? I hate my ears."

"Because they're cute! They're pointy, like little elf ears."

"Exactly! They're awful. And don't think you're funny just because that's what you're drawing right now."

Blaine laughed. "I like your voice. And your laugh. And your hair. And your kissing technique. And the way you drive. And I like when you drive your Dad's truck. And that you used to pretend to be Princess Ariel. And the way you looked at me after the first time I kissed you, and that you sang for Pavarotti, and that you still visit your mom's grave, and I love your eyes, and the curve of your nose, and that you let me stay here, and share your bed, and let me take care of you when you're sick." Blaine sighed, and stopped drawing crazy squiggles on Kurt's back. "Basically, Kurt, what I'm trying to say is..."

Kurt heard himself take a sharp breath as Blaine finished the 'u' in you.

I love you.

_I love you._

_I. Love. You._

Blaine had said it! Blaine loved Kurt! He did! Mercedes had been right! Blaine _loved_ him! And he loved Blaine! Now, all he had to do was say it back!

"Blaine-" he said, but he was cut off.

"Kurt?" Burt said, pushing the door open. He looked them over, Blaine's hand still resting on Kurt's back, the laptop on the edge of the bed playing The Little Mermaid. "Finn said you were sick...have you guys been holed up here all day?"

Blaine nodded and spoke before Kurt could answer. "His fever was 101 this morning."

Burt let out a low whistle. "Are you sure you want to be in here? He's probably contagious."

Blaine shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"That's dedication," Burt said, and Kurt heard the door close.

"Blaine," he tried again after a moment of silence, but Blaine shushed him.

"You should sleep," he said.

"But-"

"No. There will be plenty of time for talking later. Sleep now." He leaned down and kissed Kurt's cheek. It was then that Kurt realized how tired he was, how heavy his eyelids were, and reluctantly, he let them fall shut, and he drifted off.

* * *

Kurt finally opened his eyes. He was alone by the hole, except for the two men filling it in. Slowly he drew his eyes from the foot of the grave up to the headstone. He knew what it would say, but it still shocked him, and the sight brought with it a crushing, ripping, tearing pain that almost made him cry out. He clutched his chest, trying to keep a strangled sob from leaping from his throat, but as his eyes flitted across the engraved stone, he could barely contain it...

_Blaine Anderson._

It was too much to bear, the thought of Blaine being dead. Kurt staggered away from the grave, stumbling as he hugged himself to keep his chest from falling apart, being ripped to shreds by his heart, which seemed to have exploded into tiny shards, bent on destroying him from the inside out. What he wouldn't do to just hear Blaine's voice one more time, to touch his face, see his warm hazel eyes blinking, but now he was gone, gone forever, and never coming back.

* * *

When Kurt opened his eyes again, it was with a yell, and he shot straight up in bed. "Blaine?" he cried. His hands were shaking-whether from the cold or from the sheer terror, he didn't know-as they searched the bed, coming up empty, until finally, with a crashing wave of relief, they connected with Blaine's face.

"Kurt?" Blaine said groggily, twisting his head away as Kurt poked him the in the eye. "What are you doing? It's three in the morning...what's the matter?"

"Blaine!" Kurt tugged himself across the bed and latched on to Blaine, crying now. Blaine was instantly awake, encircling Kurt in his arms and petting his hair. "It's okay," he was saying, "It's okay, it's okay."

"I had a d-dream," Kurt gasped, burying his face in Blaine's shirt. He was especially thankful for Blaine at that moment, because he knew his tears were soaking right through to the skin, but still Blaine held him close, nuzzling Kurt's hair with his face.

"Tell me about it," he said softly.

"I dreamed..." Kurt trailed off, wondering if it was good idea to say it.

"You can tell me, no matter what," Blaine said, reading his mind.

Kurt took a deep breath. "I dreamed that you died, and that I was all alone. And it was the scariest dream I've ever had, and I'm so scared, Blaine, I'm so damn terrified." Kurt was crying again, harder now, clutching the front of Blaine's shirt in a vice-like grip. He knew he was overreacting and acting like a baby, but he couldn't help it.

"It's okay, Kurt," Blaine said again. "It's okay to be scared, because I'm scared too. But we're in this together, and I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long long time. I promise I will always be here to save you from your nightmares."

Kurt's heart was still beating hard. "It just so...vivid. It was scary."

Blaine held him tighter. "You should try to go back to sleep."

Kurt was silent.

"Here," Blaine said softly, wrapping his arms around Kurt and shifting his body so Blaine was wrapped around him. The word _spooning_ flitted through Kurt's mind, but it was hard to focus with the sound of his heart pounding in his ears and Blaine's hand weaving up his chest before stopping above his heart.

"Your heart feels like a bird," Blaine laughed, resting his chin on Kurt's shoulder. Another silent minute passed, and Kurt was no less awake. "Do you want me to sing to you?" Blaine whispered, and Kurt nodded. Blaine thought for a moment. "Okay," he said, and pressed his lips to Kurt's shoulder for a brief second before singing. "_Just to see you smile, I'd do anything that you wanted me to, when all is said and done, I'd never count the cost, it's worth all that's lost...just to see you smile_..."

"That's a sad song," Kurt whispered, interrupting him. "She leaves him in the end."

"Okay," Blaine said, burying his face in Kurt's shoulder blade. He was quiet for a minute. "Okay, how about this one?" He lifted his head and turned his mouth closer to Kurt's ear. "_Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on. So tell me when you're gonna let me in, I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_..."

Kurt wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but one thing was certain: this was a _very_ pleasant way to fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter's pretty heavy...you may or may not cry. Just a warning. **

**Thanks once again for all the wonderful reviews...I'm glad you're all enjoying it :]**

* * *

Two days later, Kurt was all better and Blaine...was sick as a dog.

"I told you so," Kurt said as he pulled the thermometer out of Blaine's mouth. "You should have listened."

"Okay, Kurt," Blaine groaned, burying his face in the pillow. "I admit it: you're right, always and indefinitely right. And I will never not listen to you again." Kurt laughed. "But the way I see it," Blaine added, "It was an opportunity cost sort of thing...and in this case, the pros far outweigh the cons."

Kurt propped himself on his elbow, watching Blaine.

"What are you staring at?" Blaine asked, opening one eye, and Kurt laughed. "I don't know...I just think that it's cute when you're sick."

"It doesn't _feel_ cute," Blaine groaned, and Kurt put a hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry I did this to you," he whispered, and Blaine opened his eyes.

"Don't be," he answered.

"Do you want anything?" Kurt asked, and Blaine thought for a moment.

"Some orange juice?"

"You got it!" Kurt said, and launched himself off the bed and down to the kitchen. As he passed through the living room, he hesitated, then walked to the DVD cabinet and carefully selected a stack of movies. He climbed back up the stairs, toed open the door...and found Blaine, sound asleep and snoring softly. Kurt smiled; he really was awfully cute like this. Vulnerable. He tiptoed across the room and settled cross-legged on the bed. Blaine stirred only a little, and muttered a bit. It was unintelligible at first, then, very distinctly,

"_Kurt_." Kurt smiled, ridiculously overjoyed, but then Blaine's peaceful face clouded, and he turned his head a little. His smooth brow furrowed, and one corner of his mouth pulled down a bit. "_Mom_," he said, "_Don't...Dad...leave..._"

Kurt felt his heart breaking in his chest. Blaine had been doing so much _better_ lately! He'd been so happy. But it was naive of Kurt to think that being kicked out of his house wasn't effecting him. How could it not? How would Kurt react if Burt and Carole had kicked him out?

But it still hurt him to think that Blaine was still so upset about it. It filled Kurt with anger; how could Blaine's parents do that? How could _anyone_ do that to their only son? The thought crossed his mind that he could go to Blaine's house right then and give his parents a piece of his mind...but no. Another soft murmur from Blaine brought him back to his senses; that wouldn't help anyone, and it certainly wouldn't help Blaine.

To calm himself down, Kurt rose as gently as possible and put _Mulan_ into his laptop. He would watch it by himself, unless Blaine woke up. Then they could watch it together.

And just as "I'll Make a Man Out Of You" started, that's just what happened. Mid-snore, Blaine started and opened one eye. "Is that _Mulan_ I hear?" he asked groggily, wiping the corner of his mouth. Kurt turned to him and smiled, placing a hand on his boyfriend's burning cheek. "It most certainly is," he answered. "How are you feeling?"

Blaine sniffed. "Awful." Kurt's heart sank watched the movie silently for a few moments, before Blaine spoke again, more awake this time. "Did I say anything?" he asked.

"Um...no. Why?" Kurt lied.

Blaine shrugged. "Sometimes when I'm sick I talk in my sleep. Or I sleep walk."

"Nope, no speaking this time," Kurt said, avoiding Blaine's eyes.

"I dreamed...about my parents," Blaine said quietly. "And about you."

"Oh?" Kurt asked, staring hard at the movie playing on his laptop. Blaine nodded.

"I dreamed about the night they kicked me out."

"Blaine-" Kurt said, finally facing him, but Blaine held up a finger.

"I think I should go and talk to them."

Kurt didn't say anything for a moment, especially since that was exactly what he'd been about to do. "Why?"

"Well, for one thing," Blaine began, sniffing again and rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling, "if I do need a transplant, most likely one of them could give it to me." Kurt was silent. "The real question is, though..._would_ they."

Kurt gasped. "Of course they would, Blaine! They're your parents!"

"But Kurt, you saw how they reacted! How angry my dad was, and my mom..my mom didn't do anything." Blaine said the last word softly, and Kurt saw him break. And seeing this snag in Blaine's ever-confident facade broke him too. Kurt crawled closer to him and wrapped his arms around him, and he could feel Blaine's shoulder quake as he began to cry.

_Wow_, Kurt couldn't help thinking, _for once it's_ me _holding_ him _while_ he _cries_. Kurt decided he liked this feeling, this feeling of being the strong one. _But now is not the time to focus on relationship roles, Kurt_, he told himself. _Now is the time to be a loving boyfriend and comfort Blaine as he sobs into your shoulder._

Kurt rubbed Blaine's shoulder in small circles as he pressed his lips to Blaine's unruly curly hair. "It's gonna be okay," he cooed, "It's gonna be okay. Everything will be okay."

"How do you know?" Blaine sobbed into Kurt's chest.

"Because," Kurt began, thinking for a moment. "Because we have each other, and that way, nothing can ever be wrong. No matter what happens, you have me, and I have you, and we have each other, and that's all we need. That's all we will ever need. And you're going to get better, and live a long and healthy and happy life. And maybe some day, your parents will wise up and realize what a beautiful and perfect person you are, Blaine, and realize how big of a mistake they made. And if they don't? Well, so what? I will _always_ love you."

He heard Blaine gasp a little at the end. He wound his arms around Kurt and looked up at him, his chin on Kurt's chest. His eyes were red and still swimming with tears, and his cheeks were soaked and his nose was running, but still all Kurt could think was how perfectly _beautiful_ his boyfriend was.

"Do you really mean that?" he whispered, searching Kurt's face.

"About me being there for you forever? Of course!"

"Not about that," Blaine said, rolling his eyes, and Kurt laughed."...the last part."

Kurt laughed. "Of _course_ I love you, Blaine."

Blaine broke into a watery smile. "I love you too, Kurt,"

So. That was it. The first time they had said it, out loud, to each other. Sitting in Kurt's bed, arms around each other, _Mulan_ playing in the background and Blaine sick. Kurt found himself memorizing everything; the warm heat of Blaine's legs pressing into his own, the soft sheets covering his feet, and the way Blaine's eyes were sparkling as he stretched up a little to kiss him, and this time, Kurt didn't protest.

* * *

The next day, Blaine was slightly better, but still sniffly. Kurt had lugged him downstairs and was settling him on the couch. "I'll just be gone an hour or so, okay?" he said, tucking Blaine in under a blanket.

"Okay, but I'll be fine," Blaine said, rolling his eyes at Kurt's motherly behavior.

"Are you sure?" Kurt bit his lip, still second-guessing himself.

"Yes! Go!" Blaine urged.

Kurt picked up his keys from the coffee table, still unsure. They were out of cold medicine and tea bags and hot chocolate, three things Kurt was sure were the keys to Blaine's speedy recovery. "Well...okay..." he said, and started for the door. He paused, his hand on the knob, then circled back. "But I feel bad because you didn't leave me when I was sick and now I'm leaving you..."

"Kurt Hummel, get your cute little butt out of this house before I throw it out!" Blaine called hoarsely.

"All right, all right, I'm going!" Kurt shut and locked the door, but stood on the stoop for another moment before finally heading to his car.

* * *

"Blaine?"

It was two hours later when Kurt pushed open the front door. "Blaine!" he called again. "I called you twice but you didn't answer...I'm sorry I was gone so long, traffic was awful and there was a horrible accident right by-Blaine?" As Kurt came around the corner, he immediately knew something was wrong. The blanket he had so carefully tucked around Blaine was tossed carelessly over the back of the couch...which was empty. Maybe he was in their room? Kurt climbed the stairs and pushed open the door that was already half-ajar. Blaine's pajamas were strewn across the bed, and his shoes were missing by the door.

Kurt raced back downstairs; Blaine's keys were still in the bowl on the kitchen counter. So wherever he had gone, he had walked. In the hallway, Blaine's coat was missing from the hook, as well as his scarf and gloves. But where could he have gone? Just as Kurt was beginning to contemplate where his boyfriend could be, his phone buzzed.

"Blaine! Oh, thank God!" Kurt cried in relief, jamming the phone under his hat to his ear. "Where the hell are you? You're sick, you should be-Blaine?" He stopped short; he could hear breathing on the end of the line, but it wasn't normal. It was ragged, uneven; something was wrong. "Blaine?" Kurt said tentatively, fear in his voice.

"Kurt," Blaine said in a choking voice. The wind made harsh noises on the other end of the line; Blaine was clearly outside.

"Blaine! Where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm at...m-my h-house..." Blaine said in a quivering voice, and Kurt heard him sniff and then a cough.

"I'm coming to get you," Kurt said, snatching his keys back off the counter and sprinting for the door. "Don't move!"

* * *

Kurt made the journey especially quickly, as he threw caution to the winds and ran yellow-to-red lights, sped through a school zone, and treated hexagonal STOP signs more as triangular YIELD signs. He turned the corner onto Blaine's street and saw him, hunched over and bundled in his coat, on a bench by the street sign. Kurt squealed to a stop and leaped out of the car, not even pausing to shut the door or turn the engine off.

"Blaine," Kurt said, kneeling to the ground in front of Blaine and putting a hand on his face to lift his chin up. "Blaine, honey, what happened? What-oh my God," Kurt stopped, clapping his free hand over his mouth. "What...Blaine, what did they _do_ to you?"

Blaine let Kurt tilt his head up, but he kept his eyes closed, even as fresh tears began to leak out of them. One of his eyes was swollen shut, a bruise blossoming across it and his cheek bone. His lip was split open, and there was another bruise on his jaw. But, perhaps the worst of it was the word "faggot" scrawled sloppily across his forehead in marker. "Blaine..." Kurt breathed, completely at a loss. On the one hand, he could literally feel his heart crumbling as he was crushed with a sympathy and sadness for Blaine so strong that he was afraid he would suffocate under the weight of it...but on the other hand, his insides were burning with fury; he was charged with energy, and he was quite certain that if he wasn't so afraid of leaving Blaine alone on this bench in the freezing cold, he could be able to walk right up to his front door and rip his parents limb from limb with his bare hands. But now Blaine was speaking, and he needed to remain calm and hold Blaine's swollen and bleeding face in his hands and do his best to make everything right again.

"M-my Dad was d-drunk," Blaine was saying, stumbling over the words. "My M-mom was g-gone, and I c-came ins-side and he asked me what I was d-doing there," he paused to take a gasping breath. "And I s-said I n-needed to t-talk and he told me t-to leave...but I d-d-didn't, s-so he hit me...and I t-tried to leave and he h-hit me again..." He stopped, closing his eyes as a new wave of tears hit him. Kurt sat on the bench and cradled Blaine against him, resting his cheek against Blaine's curly hair. "I k-kept trying to leave but he kept g-grabbing me and h-hitting me and then he..." Blaine let out a strangled sob. "He grabbed me and threw me onto the stairs...and he had a marker...and he..." Blaine pulled one of his hands free from Kurt's embrace to gesture to his forehead. Kurt felt another flare of anger as Blaine cried harder. Without a word, he helped Blaine to his feet and lead him back to the car.

As he drove back home, Kurt had flashbacks of that night so long ago, when they initially told Blaine's parents. This, hands down, was a hundred million times worse.

* * *

When they pulled up to the house, no one was home. Just as well, Kurt thought. No one around to ask questions...Blaine didn't seem to be in a particularly stable state. He was shaking violently, maybe from the cold, maybe from the shock, but probably both.

Once again, Kurt lead him upstairs and sat him on the bed as he flitted about, gathering up warm, dry clothes and a towel from Blaine. "Okay," he said, holding the clothes and towel in one hand and using the other to help Blaine up and steer him into the bathroom. "You take a shower, and then...we'll deal," Kurt said as he shut the door. Nervously, he started cleaning up the room, but not thirty seconds later, a shirtless Blaine poked his head out of the door.

"Kurt?" he asked softly, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Yes, Blaine?" Kurt said, straightening up with a t-shirt in his hands.

"Um," Blaine said sheepishly. "Will you...will you sit in here with me? I...I don't...want to be alone."

Kurt's face softened and he tossed the t-shirt onto his bed. "Of course."

Blaine stood back, one hand wrapped around his ribs. "Thanks, Kurt," he said, giving the boy a slight smile before he continued undressing.

Blaine sat on the edge of the tub in only his underwear as he waited for the water to warm up. He stared dejectedly at the floor as Kurt watched him, thinking.

"Blaine?" he asked uncertainly, and Blaine looked up. He wasn't sure if he should ask, but something was tugging at him, bothering him. He had to ask, had to know. "Um...would you mind if I asked you something...personal?"

Blaine looked at him for a moment, the thundering of the water pouring from the tap the only noise in the steamy bathroom. Then, slowly, he shook his head. "No. You can ask me anything you want, Kurt, you know that."

"Okay," Kurt took a deep breath. "Um...has your Dad...ever...hit you before?"

Blaine was quiet for a minute, then he sighed. "Yes." Kurt took a sharp intake of breath, but tried to cover it with his hand. "When I was younger...my Dad drank a lot. And sometimes he would get angry, and then he would hit me or my mom. My mom would sometimes try to stop him from hurting me, but once I told them I might be gay..." his voice broke. "She stopped trying." He took a shuddering breath and Kurt wished he had never asked. "He stopped drinking for a while, but the more I tried to convince him I was gay and that I wasn't changing, the more he did it and..." He paused, and Kurt saw a tear roll down his cheek. Kurt moved to sit on the ledge beside him, and wiped it away with his thumb. Blaine looked up at him, his eyes swimming once again.

"I-I'm sorry," Kurt stuttered, looking away. He felt Blaine's hand, finally warming up in the steam, on his cheek, steering his face back to his.

"Don't be," Blaine said softly. "I'm glad you asked. It was a big part of me, and you'd find out sooner or later."

"But I'm so...sorry that happened to you!" Kurt said. "You don't deserve that."

"Evidently I did," Blaine said sadly, touching his forehead again. "According to my dad, I'm nothing but...nothing but a filthy faggot."

Kurt gasped a little. "Did he say that to you?"

"It doesn't matter," Blaine said quickly, clearly regretting saying it out loud. "It's-"

"Don't you dare say it doesn't matter. And don't you _dare_ say it's true," Kurt said. "Because it _isn't_ true, Blaine, and it _does_ matter. It matters a lot."

Blaine stared at him for a moment, neither of them speaking. Then Blaine sighed, his cheeks coloring a little. "I guess I'd better take a shower before I use up all of the water."

Kurt moved off the side of the tub and stared at him, his brow furrowed. He was still a little worried, but then he kind of lost his train of thought because suddenly Blaine was standing in front of him completely _naked_, and that in itself made it very hard for Kurt to focus on anything until Blaine stepped behind the shower curtain.

"It was really scary, Kurt," Blaine said quietly after a few moments.

"I know," Kurt answered, twisting the t-shirt he had gotten for Blaine in his hands. "But it'll be okay."

"The way you say that, with such certainty, it almost makes me believe it."

"Well, I want you to believe it. Because we can make it okay. As long as we have each other, which we always will," Kurt mumbled, and Blaine stuck his face out of the shower, grinning a little.

"I love you, Kurt," he said, and before Kurt replied, he let his eyes travel down from the harsh word scrawled on his forehead, down the cuts and bruises, and finally to the little rivulet of water running from his ear down to his collarbone.

"I love you too, Blaine," he said, bringing he eyes back up to meet Blaine's.

"Then I believe we can work it out," Blaine said, and pulled his head back inside the shower stall.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were downstairs. Blaine was seated in a chair in front of the kitchen sink, leaning back under the tap, and Kurt was standing beside him, massaging shampoo into his hair.

"Isn't this so much better than a shower?" Kurt cooed, using the hose to rinse Blaine's hair.

"Mmmm," Blaine replied, his eyes closed.

Kurt paused, his hand running over Blaine's forehead. He could still see the letters if he looked carefully enough, and it tore at his heart. Blaine seemed to be feeling better, but it could be an act. The bruise on his eye and cheek was dark purple, blue at the edges, and the cut on his lip was wide. But still, Blaine's face was serene, his lips parted slightly, just enjoying the way Kurt's fingers felt in his hair.

When Kurt had been frozen for a good minute, water still running, Blaine opened one eye. "You okay there, cowboy?" he said, and Kurt shook himself.

"Yeah," Kurt said, returning his hands to Blaine's hair. "But...are you?"

Blaine opened his other eye to look at Kurt. "Yeah," he said after a minute. "It's just like after I got...kicked out. The initial shock is bad, especially after...this time. But as long as I can be with you, and focus on this right here...then it isn't so bad," he breathed, and Kurt stopped again.

"Blaine," he said, kneeling down beside him and putting a hand on his thigh. Blaine tilted his head to keep looking at him. "It's okay to be upset. This was...this was really bad. And I don't want you to pretend you're fine if you're not. I want you to be honest with me."

Blaine sighed and sat up, his hair dripping water everywhere. He reached behind himself to turn off the faucet before speaking. "It's hard," he admitted, and Kurt nodded. "It's hard to realize that my parents are like this, that they treat me this way even though I'm their son. And it hurts, Kurt, it hurts like hell, and sometimes I'm afraid I can't handle it." He swallowed hard, winding one of Kurt's hands up in both of his own. "I don't understand why they're like this; I mean, they're my parents, they're supposed to love me and take care of me no matter what, right? And they don't. They just...don't." He said all of this very quickly, in one breath, and once he was finished, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "And...and I'm scared, Kurt. I'm scared because I'm sick, and I've been sick before but this time it's worse, and I'm worried what's gonna happen to me, and happen to us, because if something happens to me I won't ever be able to see you smile or sing or laugh ever again, and I would never be able to kiss you or hold you or sit in the kitchen with you or share your bed or do any of the things I want to do with you. I think about it all the time, Kurt, all the things I want us to do with each other, and I'm so afraid that we won't be able to." He took a breath. "And I feel bed that I met you and that I love you and you love me because I'm sick, and I know that that means I may not always be here, and I feel bad for doing that to you...and I feel selfish, because I spend all this time being scared for _me_, and I know it must be hard on you too, so I try not to let you see that I'm afraid, but Kurt...I'm terrified."

"Blaine Anderson," Kurt said, sitting up on his knees and cupping Blaine's face in his hands. "You listen to me right now. _It's okay to be afraid_. And it's okay to show that you're afraid. Because you're right, I'm afraid too, I'm damn terrified, but the only way we're going to be able to get through this is together. We have to be honest with each other, and open, and that will keep us safe. And we will be able to do everything we want together, everything you've thought of and everything I've thought of and everything we haven't thought of yet, because I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. We're going to be here, together, forever, as long as we want." Kurt paused, searching Blaine's eyes. "And don't you ever say you are guilty for meeting me, and don't ever suggest that I regret it. Because I don't, Blaine, and I never will, because I love you, and meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Kurt, I...I don't know what to say," Blaine whispered, placing one of his hands over top of Kurt's on his face.

"So don't," Kurt breathed, leaning in and kissing Blaine. He put his hands on the edge of the counter behind Blaine and scooted himself onto his lap, straddling him, and used one hand to push his wet hair back from his face.

"As much as I enjoy this," Blaine said, turning his face away with a slight smile. "This really hurts." He brought one finger to the cut on his lip, and Kurt covered his mouth.

"Oh!" he said. "Damn, I forgot about that."

"I almost did too," Blaine chuckled.

"I guess I could finish your hair..." Kurt said, getting off of his lap.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Blaine said, leaning back again and closing his bruised eye. Kurt felt a pang in his heart, but he smiled and started working his fingers through Blaine's hair anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really hope you guys can forgive me after this chapter...enjoy, though! And once again, thanks for all of the fabulous reviews :]**

* * *

By the weekend, both Kurt and Blaine were completely better. They lay in bed late Saturday morning, hands entwined under the covers as they stared at the ceiling.

"I can't believe we spent our whole spring break in bed," Kurt groaned, and Blaine laughed.

"I wouldn't use that phrasing around anyone who didn't know better," Blaine chuckled. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Let's go out for brunch," Kurt said, letting go of Blaine's hand and rolling out of bed.

"Brunch?" Blaine teased. "To me it's still breakfast."

"That's because you're a lazy bum," Kurt said, looking out of the bathroom where he was combing his hair.

"Hey now," Blaine said, dragging himself to lay horizontally across the bed so he would watch Kurt comb his hair. "You're cute when you comb your hair like that."

"Like what?" Kurt said sceptically, throwing a glance over his shoulder as he applied toothpaste to his toothbrush.

"All slow like that," Blaine said, flipping on to his back and grinning at Kurt upside down.

Kurt let his toothbrush dangle out of the corner of his mouth as he picked up the comb and dragged it slowly through his hair. "You have some weird fetishes," he said, laughing as he rinsed his mouth.

"They're not fetishes!" Blaine said defensively. "Is it my fault my boyfriend has a really attractive way of combing his hair? And some really marvelous shoulders?"

"Marvelous, huh?" Kurt said, coming to sit cross-legged in front of Blaine, who remained upside down.

"Mm," Blaine said, craning his neck to kiss the underside of Kurt's chin. "Marvelous."

Kurt shivered as he kissed him. "That tickles," he giggled. Blaine kissed his chin again before moving to his mouth.

"I feel like Spiderman," Kurt murmured, turning his head away for a second, but Blaine pulled his mouth back to his.

"You're more of an MJ," Blaine whispered back. "At least for the moment."

After another few moments, Kurt pulled away. "We need to get up or we'll stay here all day," he said.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Blaine whispered, kissing Kurt's Adam's apple. He shivered again.

"Come on, lover boy," Kurt said, rocking back onto his elbows. "Carpe diem."

"Do I have to?" Blaine moaned, finally rolling back to his stomach.

"Yes," Kurt said, pulling clothes out of his closet. "Do you honestly think it would be more fun here in bed than out doing something?"

"That's...debatable," Blaine said, grinning. Kurt blushed.

"You know what I meant," he said.

"Fine," Blaine said, rolling off the bed and loping into the bathroom.

"You know what we should do?" he said a minute later, poking his head out.

"What?" Kurt asked from the closet, where he was busy selecting the perfect outfit for brunch.

"A picnic!" Blaine said enthusiastically, but Kurt wrinkled his nose.

"A picnic? It's freezing!"

"So? That's what they invented jackets for! It'll be fun!" Kurt surveyed him doubtfully for a moment before sighing. "Fine," he said, and Blaine jumped in the air, clapping his hands. "Wahoo!"

"You are such a five year old," Kurt teased, and Blaine batted his lashes.

"But you love me any way," he said, laughing, and Kurt's stomach fluttered.

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Kurt groaned as Blaine tugged him up the hill at the park. Blaine was bent on sitting right beneath the oak tree at the top, and he'd been adamant about the food they'd packed and the blanket they would sit on.

"Oh, don't be such a buzzkill," Blaine said, squeezing his hand. "It'll be fun!"

"That's the fifth time you've said that," Kurt pointed out. "And I'm no closer to believing it than I was the first time."

Blaine didn't answer as he briefly released Kurt's hand so he could lay out their blanket with a flourish. To his dismay, the Hummels didn't own a _red_-checked blanket, so he'd had to settle for a blue-checked one. The basket, though, was perfectly cliche, just the way Blaine liked it. He sat criss-cross-applesauce on a corner as Kurt kneeled beside the basket, meticulously laying out their food.

"You know," Blaine said, shielding a teasing grin, "You don't have to be that neat."

Kurt paused, an apple in his hand. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're acting like we're sitting down to a five star meal. It's just a picnic, Kurt."

Kurt frowned, his cheeks coloring. "Well if it's _just_ a picnic, why did we even have to come?" he snapped, and Blaine shrank back, realizing that he might have offended his boyfriend just a tad.

"Kurt, I didn't mean it like that," Blaine said, putting a hand on Kurt's arm, but Kurt turned away with a harrumph.

"Kurt," Blaine said seriously, crawling around to face him. "Are you really upset?"

"Well you seemed to think this stupid picnic was a big deal, I just wanted to make it nice!"

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But it _is_ nice," he said. "Even if it's freezing and I left my scarf in your car. It's perfect! The food is perfect, the day is perfect..._you're_ perfect."

Kurt stiffened, but remained silent. After a moment, he said softly: "You can share my scarf if you want." Blaine grinned and pulled him around to kiss his cheek. "I love you," he whispered against Kurt's soft skin.

"I love you too," Kurt said. "Even if sometimes you're mildly irritating."

"Ouch!" Blaine said, pulling his hand to his chest and pretending to be offended. "You hurt my feelings!"

"Don't even," Kurt laughed, flicking Blaine's knee, which made Blaine laugh.

"Seriously, though," Blaine said, touching Kurt's hand. "It is perfect."

"But you're right," Kurt said, unpacking the rest of the food. "It's damn cold."

"All right, so perhaps a space heater would have been a good idea," Blaine admitted, scooting closer to Kurt. "But we can keep each other warm. That's why they invented cuddling."

Kurt blushed a little, throwing a glance down at the playground, which was deserted.

"You shouldn't worry what people think," Blaine murmured, reading Kurt's mind and resting his head on his shoulder. "Especially when there's no one around to think anything."

"I suppose you're right," Kurt said, resting his cheek on Blaine's hair.

"Of course I'm right," Blaine answered, wrapping his arms around Kurt and nuzzling deeper into his neck. "I'm always right."

"I though I was always right?"

"We can both be right."

Kurt thought for a moment. "Sounds okay to me."

After a silent moment, Blaine stomach rumbled. "Um...can we eat now?"

* * *

After the picnic, Kurt and Blaine leaned against the oak tree, Blaine's back to Kurt's chest, and Kurt's scarf draped around both of their necks. Blaine was playing with the zipper on Kurt's jacket.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. Kurt's head was leaned back against the tree, his eyes closed.

"Nothing in particular, really," Kurt answered, not opening his eyes. "Just...thinking."

"About happy things?"

"For the most part."

"Tell me some."

Kurt didn't answer for a moment. "I was thinking...about us."

"What about us?"

Kurt shrugged. "Just in general."

Blaine turned his head so he could look up at him. "For example...?"

Kurt pulled his head up and opened his eyes. "Well...the future," he admitted, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Why are you blushing?" Blaine laughed, touching Kurt's cheek softly with the back of his hand. "I think about the future too."

"You do?"

Blaine nodded. "Of course I do! I think about-" he stopped himself.

"What?" Kurt said hopefully.

Blaine shook his head, blushing.

"Come on, I told you!" Kurt said, clasping his hands. "Please?"

Blaine bit his lip, fighting a smile as he sat up and turned to face him. "Well...sometimes...I think...about...after we graduate. Buying a house together. Or an apartment. In a big city, like New York, maybe. And I think about getting a pet, like a dog or a cat or a fish or something, and I think about...sometimes I think about us...getting married," Blaine mumbled, looking down at his hands in his lap and blushing scarlet.

Kurt's heart stopped. "You do?" he said hopefully, and Blaine nodded, and Kurt grinned so wide he though his face would shatter. "I do too!" He reached out to squeeze Blaine's hand. He would have pressed the subject more, but thinking about what Blaine thought of them was too good a subject to delay. "What else?"

"Well..." Blaine blushed even deeper.

"What? You can tell me, Blaine, no matter what."

"Well...sometimes I think about...stuff...that...goes along with marriage."

Kurt paused, confused. He thought for a moment, and then...oh. "You mean, like...sex?" he said, coloring instantly.

"Yeah," Blaine said. "Sex."

"Oh," Kurt said, more to himself than to Blaine. "Can I tell you something?"

Blaine looked up. "Anything."

"I think about...that...too."

"You do?" Blaine asked nervously.

"Yeah," Kurt said, and gave an awkward laugh. "I _am_ a teenage boy, you know."

"Oh." Blaine said, and the two of them sat in silence for a moment, blushing deeply, very aware of the contact their knees were making.

"So, um...do you...wanna go home now?" Kurt said after a while, and Blaine laughed a little.

"Sure, Kurt," he said.

* * *

That night, Kurt lay in bed next to Blaine, Blaine's hand touching his thigh ever so slightly. Kurt was absorbed in thoughts about their conversation at the park; it had been on his mind all day. It was perfectly normal for them to have thought about those sorts of things, right? They were teenagers, and they were in love. Naturally, at some point, they would have thought more about the...physical aspects. Luckily, Kurt realized with a sigh of relief, Blaine understood how Kurt felt about it. He had never pressured Kurt, and the few times their kisses and late-night cuddling had taken a turn down that road, he'd respected Kurt's wishes to slow down.

_Maybe he really is perfect_, Kurt thought, rolling over to face Blaine's sleeping form in the dark. The funny thing was, though, whenever he had thought about...stuff...Blaine was really the only person he had ever thought it _about_. Sure, maybe once or twice he'd fantasized about kissing Finn, way back when-talk about awkward-but Blaine was the only person he'd ever thought about _other_ stuff with. He could see it happening, and although it made him blush...it was kind of a nice though. Okay, a really nice thought.

His thoughts drifted back to that day so long ago when they'd sat in this very room, facing the mirror, so Kurt could practice his 'sexy faces'. He smiled at the memory of how awful it had been...and then he remembered the conversation that followed, how Blaine had offered to teach him...about sex. _I'll tell you what I know_, he had offered, and Kurt idly wondered exactly how much that was.

"Blaine?" he whispered. Blaine was probably asleep, it was foolish to even-

"Yeah Kurt?" Blaine whispered back, his voice not sleepy in the slightest.

"Uh...how long have you been awake?"

"A while. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Kurt saw Blaine's outline smile in the dark, the soft moonlight glinting off his teeth. "Just everything, really. You. Me. Us."

"We think about that a lot, huh?"

"That's not such a bad thing, though, is it?"

"No, not really." They were quite for another minute, staring at each other in the dark.

"Do you really think about us getting married?" Kurt whispered.

Blaine thought for a second. "Not a lot. But I have."

"Me too."

"Do you really think about...other stuff?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think about it?"

Kurt exhaled. "Sometimes I wonder why we haven't done anything yet," he half-laughed.

Blaine propped himself up on his elbow. "You mean...you want to?"

"Of course I want to."

"You...do?"

Kurt nodded, suddenly aware of how close Blaine had gotten over the course of a few seconds. He could already feel his breathing speed up as Blaine maneuvered himself to hover over top of Kurt. "Do you really?" he said in Kurt's ear.

"I do," Kurt whined, squirming a little under Blaine's warm weight. Blaine laughed once before pressing his lips to Kurt's.

Kurt could already feel the difference; it was like the thoughts had always been there, present, but now they were actually acting on it. And it was it was _fun_. Smoothly, Blaine flipped them so Kurt was on top, and he tangled his fingers into Kurt's hair and opened his mouth and now oh good _Lord_, now Blaine was digging his hips into Kurt's, and he felt a tiny moan escape his lips and Blaine did it again and suddenly-

There was a loud grunt from the next room, and a door opened.

"Shit," Blaine muttered. "Someone's awake."

"Maybe right now wasn't the best idea," Kurt panted, rolling off of Blaine.

"You seemed to be enjoying it," Blaine teased, looking over and grinning at him.

"Like you're one to talk," Kurt countered, and Blaine laughed.

"Fair enough," he answered.

All of a sudden, Kurt was exhausted. He tried to stifle a yawn, but failed miserably.

"You should sleep now," Blaine murmured, scooting closer and encircling Kurt in his arms and kissing his cheek.

"So should you," Kurt said, closing his eyes and pressing his face to Blaine's chest.

"I will," Blaine assured him, resting his cheek on Kurt's hair.

They fell asleep like that, hearts still racing, cheek-to-hair and cheek-to-chest, arms and legs tangled, perfectly together.

* * *

The next morning, as Kurt and Blaine sat at the breakfast table, Burt and Carole came into the kitchen, each wearing a pair of brand-new hiking boots.

"Going somewhere?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow. Burt grunted and rubbed sleep from his eyes as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.

"We're going on a hike!" Carole chirped, pulling the orange juice from the fridge and pouring herself a glass.

"How did you convince him of that?" Kurt laughed, nodding at Burt, who was slumped in a chair across the table from him.

"I have my ways," Carole said, placing a hand on Burt's shoulder and sipping her juice. "What do you guys have planned for today?"

Kurt shrugged and looked at Blaine. "I dunno..." he said. "We may just go shopping or to the park maybe, or just hang around here."

"Sounds like fun!" Carole said, depositing her now-empty glass in the sink. "Finn went over to Puck's house for the day, so he probably won't be home until later this evening."

"Okay," Kurt said. "When are you guys gonna be back?"

"If I have my way about it, not until late tonight. I want to show Burt the real outdoors," Carole laughed, and Burt groaned. "Come on, ya big lug," she said, playfully slapping his shoulder. "We'd better get going before you fall back asleep."

And then they were gone, and Kurt and Blaine were alone.

"So what do you want to do today?" Kurt asked Blaine, who was staring blearily into the dregs of his cereal bowl. "Blaine?" Kurt said when he didn't answer.

"What?" Blaine said, raising his head dolefully. "Oh, sorry...um, I don't know. We could go to the park, I guess."

Kurt stared at him intently for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah," Blaine said, forcing a smile. "I'm fine. I think I just...need some air."

"Okay..." Kurt said slowly. "If you say so. The park it is."

* * *

Once again, they were in luck; the park was mostly empty. There was a mom with her two kids, but they packed up and left shortly after Blaine and Kurt arrived, leaving the swings vacant. Blaine made a beeline and immediately began pumping his legs, while Kurt followed at a much slower pace.

"I love swinging," Blaine sang as he soared back and forth past Kurt.

"Aren't you worried about going that high?" Kurt asked apprehensively, watching Blaine come even with the top bar of the swingset.

"No," Blaine said as he started on his backwards arc. "Why would I be? It feels like flying."

"I suppose..."

"You should try it!" Blaine said as he shot past.

"I can never get going that high," Kurt admitted. "I normally get too scared."

"Well then I'll just have to give you a push!" Blaine said, dragging his feet against the frozen ground.

"What are you-Blaine, stop! Stop it, Blaine! Ahhh!" Kurt shouted as Blaine grabbed the chains of his swings, pulled them back as far as he could, and pushed Kurt, running along behind him until Kurt swung up high enough for Blaine to duck underneath him. "Blaine! What the hell are you thinking!" Kurt screamed as Blaine fell to the ground laughing. "Are you trying to kill me?" Kurt's swing was spinning out of control, back and forth, side to side, and Kurt's flailing/panicking was making it worse, not better. "Stop laughing!" Kurt cried indignantly, which only made Blaine laughed harder as he pounded the ground with his fist, laughing so hard that tears were streaming from his eyes.

Then, suddenly, he sat up, tears still leaking from his eyes, and his smile froze. He clutched his side, his eyes rolled upwards, and he collapsed.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! So there you go, chapter 8. I'm sorry it's a tad shorter than the rest, but you can see why.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's a hint for ya: if I had to name this chapter (which I never do, because I'm super lazy and I can't think of good names for all of them) it would be 'Nothing'. It's another sad one, for which I apologize.**

* * *

The drive to the emergency room had been one big blur of flashing lights and screaming sirens, which Kurt could barely hear over the pounding of his heart and his strangled sobs. It was all he could do to keep his focus on controlling the vehicle, rather than the little window on the back of the ambulance, through which he could just barely see the top of Blaine's shaggy head.

It was...bad. That was all Kurt knew; that's all he had absorbed in the flurry of motion that had enveloped him upon his arrival at the hospital. No one had told him anything, they'd just shoved a bunch of forms in his hand and whisked poor Blaine away, on some horrible-looking gurney through some double doors leading to who knew where. An operating room? An intensive care unit?

So now Kurt was alone. The forms he'd been left to fill out were long-gone, and so was the nurse who had brought them. Carole and Burt, off somewhere in the wilderness, weren't answering their phones. Kurt had called Mercedes, who was at a wedding, but who promised to come as soon as the cermony was over. Finn wouldn't answer, or Puck.

"Kurt?" someone said, and his head shot up from where it was cradled in his hands.

It was Rachel. Her hair was in a pony tail and her head was wrapped in a sweat band; she wore cut-off sweat pants over tights and running shoes. And Kurt had _never _been more relieved to see her in his life.

"I was in the middle of my exercise routine," she said, offering up a small smile. "Mercedes called me, and said you were alone. You...shouldn't have to be alone."

They stared at each other for a moment before Kurt launched himself out of the chair, and Rachel ran forward, her arms open, and they met in a warm embrace, Rachel calmly shh-ing and telling Kurt it would all be okay while he sobbed into her sweatshirt.

"Why didn't you tell me, Kurt?" Rachel asked fifteen minutes later, once they had settled back into chairs and Kurt had calmed down enough to explain everything.

"Blaine didn't want people to...worry," Kurt said, dabbing his eyes with one of the many tissues clutched in his hand. Rachel looked at him sympathetically.

"We're gonna get through this, Kurt," she said, putting a hand over his and squeezing it. "I'll call my dad's and tell them to get tested," she said.

"Rachel, you don't have-a transplant's a big risk-" Kurt stammered, but Rachel shushed him as she lifted her phone to her ear.

Before Kurt could protest further, the woman behind the desk came over and told her she couldn't use her phone. Rachel held up a finger to Kurt, and left. Kurt was alone.

Not for long, though. A woman in scrubs and a white coat came from between the double doors and walked right over to him. Kurt felt his heart stop.

"Are you Kurt?" she said in a motherly voice, and he nodded, already feeling a lump in his throat. "I'm Dr. Kara."

"Is he okay?" Kurt asked desperately, terrified of the answer.

Dr. Kara sighed. "It isn't good," she said simply. "The tumor got to be so big that it burst, causing a tear in his liver."

"So...is he..?"

"He's alive, for now," she said, and her tone made Kurt's heart stop. He felt tears well up in his eyes. "He's on life support for the moment."

"C-can I see him?" Kurt whispered.

"He's in a medically-induced coma...he won't be able to talk to you."

"But he can hear me, right?"

"Well, studies have suggested that-"

"Can I see him? Please?" Kurt begged, a tear sliding down his cheek.

Dr. Kara stared at him sympathetically for a moment. Then, "Yes." She stood and lead him through the double doors, which, as it turned out, lead down a long, wide hallway.

She told him the room number and gave him brief directions, and sent him on his way.

Kurt continued down the hallway, alone, his heart racing and his palms sweaty. This was the worst thing that could have happened, ever, and all he could think about was what Blaine would look like in that hospital bed, hooked up to wires and machines and...Kurt turned a corner, found the room and-oh, God.

Blaine looked so small. So small and sick and pale. The lights in the room were off; he could have been sleeping, except the beeps and buzzes of the machines were too loud for anyone to even hope for sleep. Kurt stood in the doorway for a moment, taking it all in; the wires leading from Blaine's hand to the machines, the air thing in his nose, the jagged line monitoring his heart rate...the look of peace on his face.

All at once, it was too much for Kurt to take. He rushed across the room, kneeling beside Blaine's bed, and grabbed one of his hands, pressing it to his face.

"Blaine?" he said desperately, hoping for some sign of recognition. But...there was nothing. No opening eye lid. No familiar grin. No twitch of the hand. Just...nothing.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Mercedes had entered the room, Rachel right behind her. Both had tears in their eyes. Kurt stood and grabbed Mercedes in a hug so fierce she stumbled back a little, but once she regained her balance she held him just as tightly.

"Baby, it's okay," she cooed, stroking his hair. "It's okay."

* * *

Several hours later, Kurt was alone again, sitting by Blaine's bed, holding his hand. He'd been quiet for a long time. He'd finally got in touch with Finn, who promised to call their parents until they answered. Now it late, and Kurt had school the next day, but still he didn't move. A nurse had been by earlier, shooing Kurt away, but eventually he'd been let back in. Now no one had been around for at least an hour, and the hallway lights were dimmed.

"Blaine?" Kurt said finally, softly. Nothing. "Blaine, I love you," he whispered, and still...nothing. He squeezed Blaine's hand. "I love you so much," he whispered, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat. "More than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life, and more than I ever _will_ love anyone, ever, until I die. I love you, Blaine, and I love everything about you." He took a shaking breath. "I love your eyes, and the color of them, and I love your nose, and your mouth, oh _God_ I love your mouth and how perfect it is, and I love your teeth and your voice, especially when you sing. And I love your laugh, even when you're laughing at me. _Especially_ when you're laughing at me. I love knowing that I can _make_ you laugh. I love your ears, and your jaw, and your smile and your shoulders..." he laughed. "And I love your obsession with _my_ shoulders. And I love your collar bones and your chest and your hands...I love your hands, and how strong and sure and warm they are. I love your legs and your feet and your toes, and the shoes you wear. I love the way you look in your Dalton blazer, I love the way you look in _everything_ you wear. I love the way you talk to me first thing in the morning, and at night, and all the other times in between. And I love saying that I love you, and I love hearing you say it back. I love that you think about the future, just like me, and I love that you smile when you do." He swallowed again, wiping his eyes with his free hand. "I love the way that you hold me at night, and I love being the little spoon, but I also like being the big spoon sometimes. I like laying in bed and watching Disney movies with you, and baking a cake with you when you're sad. I love going to the park and the Lima Bean and having picnics even when it's freezing. I love taking walks with you, and sharing a bed with you, and waking up smelling like you. I like doing our homework together, and hanging out with the Warblers or Mercedes and Rachel together. I love driving with you, and riding in the car with you while you drive, and I love your obsession with coffee, and I love the way you stood up to that woman in the Lima Bean that day. I love you Blaine, and I love everything about you, and I could go on for hours and hours about every little thing, like how you don't care about the clothes you wear, only you pretend to just to make me happy, and the way you don't mind kissing me before I've brushed my teeth, and...I just...God, Blaine. I love you so much. And I don't know what I'm going to do if...if I lose you. I don't think I can handle it." Kurt stopped talking and started crying, dropping his head on the mattress, the very top of his head brushing against Blaine's thigh through the covers. He made sure to keep a tight hold on Blaine's hand.

There were voices in the hallway.

"Mr. Hummel," a woman's voice was saying, "I can assure you your son left several hours ago. Visiting time is over, I saw him leave myself. I-oh," a nurse had just walked into the room, apparently under the impression that the room would be empty, aside from Blaine. "You're not supposed to be in here," she said to Kurt, and before he could answer, he saw his dad and Carole's faces over the nurse's shoulder.

"Let me through," Burt said, pushing past the nurse, and leading Carole by the hand behind him. They enveloped Kurt in a hug so tight he started crying twice as hard.

The nurse hovered by the door, watching them uncertainly. Her eyes flitted back and forth between them and Blaine. "Um..." she started to say, but hesitated. Technically, they weren't allowed to be there, and needed to leave. On the other hand, it truly was heartbreaking, watching the pain on this boy's face. She looked back at Blaine. Were they...boyfriends? She looked at Kurt. Yes, that was definitely a possibility.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. One of the more veteran nurses was standing behind her, giving the family a withering look. "They can't be in here," she said. "Get rid of them," she said, and stomped away.

_What a rude attitude for a nurse_, she thought, and gingerly took a step towards the Hummels. "Um, I'm sorry," she said tenderly. "But...I have to ask you to leave. Visiting hours are over, and...I'm so sorry," she said softly, as Kurt raised his tear-streaked face to look at her. He didn't say anything, only nodded slowly. "You can come back tomorrow..." she added, but they ignored her as they left, Burt and Carole each with an arm wrapped around Kurt to support him.

* * *

"School was awful today," Kurt said the next day, once again sitting by Blaine's bed, holding one of his hands in both of his own. "Everyone was asking where you were, and I didn't know what to say...but I told the Warblers that you were really sick," he whispered, watching Blaine's still face. "I hope that's okay. I didn't say what was wrong, just that...you might not be back for a while. And I made them promise not to tell." He was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Everything was really boring. It felt like the clocks were moving extra slowly, but I guess that's because you weren't there to keep me company. Nick and Jeff and everyone are great, of course, but...I missed you." He took a second to wipe his eyes. "I talked to the doctors today. They said...we're running out of time. It's bad, Blaine, real bad," Kurt whispered, his eyes welling up again. "And I don't know what to do. I don't know what I _can_ do. I don't know what's gonna happen, or what...I would do without you." He took a shaky breath. "I couldn't sleep when I went home last night, so I looked some stuff up...about comas." He paused again, watching Blaine's face carefully. "I read that sometimes, the people can hear you if you talk to them. Or sing. I've been talking a lot, so I'm going to sing. Okay?" He swallowed. "Remember when I was sick, when I woke up from that bad dream? And you sang to me and made me feel better? Well, maybe that will work now, too. I'm going to sing the same song, and maybe you'll feel better, and you'll wake up and all of this will have been a bad dream..." he squeezed Blaine's hand and took another breath. "_I walked across an empty land...I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth beneath my feet, sat by the river and it made me complete...oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on...so, tell me when you're going to let me in, I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin...and if you have a minute, why don't we go talk about it, somewhere only we know? This could be the end over everything...so why don't we go somewhere only we know..._" Kurt took a breath, ready to continue, when there was a knock on the door.

"Dr. Kara?" he said, standing up, but keep hold of Blaine's hand. She was grinning broadly.

"We found a donor, Kurt," she said. "A perfect match."

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand without thinking; his heart leapt and he felt his own face break out in a smile. "You did?"

"Yes!" Dr. Kara was nodding enthusiastically. "Would you like to meet her?"

"Of course! I want to thank her-for everything, I-" Kurt was stumbling over his words; his heart was beating so fast. This was is, maybe they could save Blaine! Save him, and he would be better forever, and they would live long happy lives and grow old and gray together...but Dr. Kara was looking at him strangely.

"...Kurt?" she said. "I think I lost you for a minute there."

"No, no, I'm here!" he said. "Can I meet her now?"

Dr. Kara nodded. "Yes, come with me, and I'll take you to the conference room."

Kurt followed closely behind her out the door and down the wide hallway, pausing in the doorway to look back and whisper, "I love you. Everything's going to be okay."

"It's really lucky that we found a donor," Dr. Kara said. "Blaine's situation...isn't the brightest. But she's a perfect match, and the only obstacle left is the actual operation." She stopped, her hand on the handle of a door. "But I want to warn you, Kurt," she said, suddenly turning serious. "Liver transplants are risky. Even with a perfect match, there's a chance that the operation won't succeed, or that Blaine's body will reject the new organ. It's not 100%."

"Nothing's 100%," Kurt said, trying to smile even though he felt his heart sinking.

"I just want you to understand that."

"I do!" Kurt assured her.

She laughed. "Okay," she pushed open the door. "Barbra? There's someone who would like to meet you."

Kurt felt his jaw drop.

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**You're all probably mad at me after this one too. Sorry it's short, but I like to keep ya guessin' ;]**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Once again, sorry this is a little short, and please don't hate me for another cliffhanger! Know that I love you all (and Kurt and Blaine) :]**

**Oh, and sorry it's been so long since I updated! This week has been super duper crazy and busy...I promise I'll try not to let it be that long between posts again!**

**Once again, thanks for all of the favorites and reviews and such! I love hearing what you guys think :]**

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Kurt had only met her once before, but he would know that curly black hair anywhere. He saw it every single day, or at least the shorter version of it, and the hazel eyes were almost identical, except the eyebrows above them were quite a bit slimmer, the face all around more feminine. Which made sense because, well, she was a girl. She was Blaine's mom.

"M-Mrs. Anderson?" Kurt stammered, stumbling forward. Dr. Kara looked surprised at the recognition between them.

Mrs. Anderson gave a watery smile, her eyes quickly filling with tears. "Kurt, I'm so, so sorry...I should explain myself."

_Uh, yeah, you think?_ Kurt thought, feeling himself grow a little angry. Who did she think she was, to let what happened to Blaine happen to him, and then come here and expect to be welcomed with open arms? The thing was, though...she was here to _save_ Blaine. And that was enough. More than enough.

But Kurt still couldn't helped being a little mad.

"When you and Blaine...when you came to dinner that night," Mrs. Anderson began, her voice shaking. "I didn't do anything."

_Yeah, I remember that part_, Kurt thought. _I remember it perfectly_.

"...and I've regretted it ever since." She sniffed, Dr. Kara looking quizzically between them.

After a moment of silence, Dr. Kara took a step back. "I'll...uh...let you two have a moment..." she said as she stepped from the room. Kurt didn't know what to say, so he remained silent and Mrs. Anderson gave him a desperate pleading sort of look.

"Look, Kurt...sit down?" she gestured to some chairs against the wall and sat down, hopefully looking at Kurt to do the same. Reluctantly, he did. "When...when my husband threw Blaine out like that...I didn't do anything. And I feel...awful. Worse than awful. There are no words for how bad I feel. I'm Blaine's mother, I'm supposed to protect him...and I didn't. I let Bill throw you guys out, and I shouldn't have let him! I should have stood up for you, for myself...but I didn't. I just sat there. And that's why..." she took a deep breath. "I left Blaine's father." Kurt felt his eyebrows raise involuntarily, but he managed to keep his composure.

"Oh?" was all he said. She nodded.

"About a week later. Blaine's father has always had...trouble...with drinking, and violence-"

"Blaine's told me about that. He went back to your house a week ago and..."

Mrs. Anderson looked alarmed. "What happened?"

Kurt thought for a moment, surveying Mrs. Anderson. "They just got in a fight. A bad one," he said, and she paused to dab at her eyes.

"I feel so...awful for what's happened. You boys shouldn't have had to deal with this all on your own, you're so young-"

"_My_ parents _did_ help," Kurt snapped. He knew he was being mean; clearly this woman was broken up about everything she had done, or, rather, _hadn't_ done, but he couldn't make himself care. Blaine was _dying_, and this woman, his _mother_, had done nothing. Nothing except abandon him.

"And there's nothing I could do to thank them enough. There never will be anything I can do to thank them, to thank you, for all you've done for Blaine. You know, once he started seeing you...he was so much happier around the house."

"Wait," Kurt said, backpedalling. "How did you know when we started dating?"

"A mother knows her son, Kurt," Mrs. Anderson said simply. "Especially one as easy to read as Blaine."

"And you weren't upset about it?"

Mrs. Anderson shook her head. "No. It...took some getting used to, when Blaine first came out, but...he's my son. And I love him, regardless of what I did or did not do."

"So why did you stop defending him?" Kurt couldn't help but ask. "When his Dad would get angry? Why wouldn't you stop him from hurting Blaine?"

She looked taken aback. "Kurt, you don't understand. When...Blaine's dad would get that way...there wasn't a lot that could be done..."

"So you just _stood_ there and let your husband _beat_ your son?" Kurt said coldly. She looked even more alarmed, her eyes widening. She was silent for a moment, and then she dropped her head.

"I'm not proud of that," she whispered, and Kurt could tell she was crying. He could feel himself softening, try as he might to stay angry. "I'm not proud of anything I did. All I'm asking is for now, for this chance to make it right again. To save Blaine. Because I love him, Kurt, and I can see that you do too."

_Well, damn_. Kurt thought. _Am I an open book or something?_

"Just let me save him," she pleaded again.

"Are you asking for my permission?" Kurt said incredulously. "You're asking for my permission to save your son's life? The boy that I'm in love with?"

"...I guess it was kind of silly," she admitted, wiping her eyes and raising her head. "Thank you, Kurt. Even if I'm not forgiven...thank you at least for understanding."

Kurt stared at her a minute, his eyes searching the tear-streaked face that was so much like Blaine's. He took a deep breath, started to speak, but thought better of it. Then he pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you for being so brave," he said in her ear, and felt her arms tighten around him.

Dr. Kara opened the door. "Are you guys okay in here?" she asked, eyebrows raised, just as they were pulling away.

"Everything's fine," Kurt said, feeling his own eyes well up a little. He got that nervous-jumpy feeling in his stomach again.

"Excellent, because we wanted to get moving on the surgery as soon as possible," Dr. Kara said, pulling a chair around to face them. She looked seriously at Mrs. Anderson. "I want to remind you that this is a big risk. There's a rather large chance that one-or both-of you could die from it." She paused for a second. "There is also a chance that the surgery will fail, and that Blaine's body with reject it, even though you're a perfect match."

""But it will at least buy us time, right?" Mrs. Anderson said, reaching over and squeezing Kurt's hand.

Dr. Kara sighed. "Yes, it would buy us a little time. But it's probably for the best that we cross our fingers and hope it works."

_Well, duh_, Kurt couldn't stop himself from thinking. Instead, he said, "So when will the surgery be?"

"We've scheduled it for tomorrow afternoon, at two PM." She looked at Mrs. Anderson. "That will give you some time to think about it, and get your affairs in order-"

"I don't need to think about it!" Mrs. Anderson cried. "I'm ready to save him now!"

Dr. Kara looked alarmed. "But I was under the impression-"

"Everything is resolved now," Kurt said quietly.

"It's still hospital policy that we give you at least twenty-four hours from your original declaration of consent," Dr. Kara explained. "I suggest you go home, be with your family...and get some rest. The nurse at the front desk will give you some pamphlets and notes that will help you prepare for the surgery." She stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me...I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Will you be performing the surgery?" Kurt asked.

"No," Dr. Kara replied. "I'm in charge of Blaine's case, but a more experienced liver and transplant surgeon will be taking care of him tomorrow."

She looked at them for a moment, waiting to see if they had anymore questions. When neither of them spoke, she walked to the door and said, "I'll see you both tomorrow," and left the room.

With nothing much more to say to each other, Kurt and Mrs. Anderson sat in awkward silence for a moment.

"Er, well...I'll see you tomorrow," Kurt said, standing up hastily.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kurt," Mrs. Anderson said, remaining seated. Kurt hovered by the door for a second longer before ducking out, his heart racing.

* * *

Kurt got special permission to leave school early the next day; Burt had called the headmaster at Dalton and explained, briefly, what was going on. So at one-o-clock, Kurt retrieved his things from his locker, and drove to the hospital. He signed in at the nurses station, and walked the now-familiar path to Blaine's room. He was surprised, though, when there was already a visitor. He was ready to walk in, but hesitated. It sounded like a heart-felt moment, not the kind he should interrupt. So instead, he listened.

It was Mrs. Anderson. It sounded sort of like she was crying, or almost crying; her voice was uneven and she kept sniffing, but her words were very clear.

"...and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Blaine. I know you were counting on me, you always have, and I let you down. I've been letting you down for years, and I'm sorry. So, so sorry. I know that it'll take a lot more than a few crummy words that I'm saying when you're unconscious, but I hope when you wake up, and find out that it was me, that maybe you can forgive me. And if not, that's okay too. Or if you don't right away. But I want you to know that I love you, Blaine. I always have, and I always will. No matter what your father, or what anyone else thinks. You are a beautiful person, Blaine, and the best son a person like me could ever hope for. I don't deserve to have someone as wonderful, and beautiful, and understanding and accepting as you as my son, not when I'm the kind of person I am." She was quiet for a moment. "You know that boy Kurt? I like him. He's a good boy, and I'm happy for what you have with him. And I hope he makes you happy too, because I can see that he loves you a lot. And I hope things work out for you guys, now and forever. I love you, Blaine." She stopped talking and Kurt listened hard; he though he could here her pressing a kiss to him. Suddenly, there were footsteps approaching the door, and he leaped back, running back down the hallway like he had just entered the ward.

"Oh! Hi, Kurt," Mrs. Anderson said as she turned around from shutting the door. Sure enough, her eyes were red and wet.

"Hello, Mrs. Anderson."

"Please," she said with a small smile. "Call me Barbra."

"Hello, then, Barbra," Kurt said, smiling.

"So, are you ready?" she asked, wiping her palms on the thighs of her jeans.

"I feel like I should be the one asking you that," he said.

"I'm ready," she said, nodding. "But now I need to go see the doctor."

"Good luck," Kurt said awkwardly, for lack of a better sentiment.

"Thanks, Kurt," she said, and with a final smile, she was gone.

As soon as she disappeared through the double doors at the end of the hall, Kurt pushed open the door and softly shut it behind him. He looked Blaine over-he was the exact same as before-and walked over to the chair Mrs. Anderson-Barbra-must have occupied moments before.

"You've had a lot of people talking at you, haven't you?" Kurt said with a chuckle as he took one of Blaine's hands. "School was bad again today, but better because I got to leave early. I'm really worried, Blaine, but I think everything is actually going to be okay. Now that I've met your mom, _really_ met her, that is...I think that it's all going to get better. And you won't get sick again. And we won't have to be afraid anymore." He squeezed Blaine's hand. "Your mom's a nice lady. I think that, when you wake up, we can forgive her. If you want. But for now, I do forgive her. How could I not? She's saving your life, Blaine. That takes a lot of courage, because Dr. Kara keeps saying that the surgery might not even work. But I hope it does, Blaine, I really hope it does." He took a deep breath, trying not to let his voice quiver. "But in case it doesn't...I love you, Blaine. I love you more than I can even say." He fell silent and stood up, leaning over to softly kiss Blaine's mouth. Of course there was no response, but it was enough, for the moment. "I love you," he said, and went to sit back down, but two nurses came in.

"We need to take him to prep," one of them said. "You can go in the family room."

"I'll take you," the other said, and lead him out of the room and in the opposite direction of the entrance.

Kurt sighed, squeezing Blaine's hand. "Okay," he said, and stood up, allowing the nurse to lead him out of the room.

She took him down the hallway, once again away from the entrance, and down another branch that Kurt hadn't been down before. They passed a glass wall that looking in on some sort of sitting room, furnished with sofas and chairs and tables, and with a TV in the corner of the ceiling. An old woman sat in a chair by the door, a magazine clutched on her lap, her face turned towards the TV. The nurse let him in, and he took a chair in the corner, shuffling his feet nervously. The old woman didn't move. Then Dr. Kara came in and sat next to Kurt.

"Hello, Kurt," she said pleasantly, turning to look at him seriously. "I need to have a few words with you before the surgery."

Kurt, suddenly incapable of speech, nodded as he tried to swallow past the lump in his throat.

"This will be hard to hear, but I can't let you go into this without hearing it." She took a breath. "This operation...it might not work. Blaine could still...die."

Kurt nodded, his eyes stinging. "I know," he said in an uneven whisper.

"Liver transplants are a big risk," she said, putting a hand on his arm. "And there's still a decent chance that the organ may be rejected."

"I know," Kurt whispered again, more firmly this time.

"But that isn't to say that there is a zero percent chance that Blaine and his mother won't pull through," she said, ignoring him. "There's a good chance of that, too."

Kurt simply nodded.

She waited for a moment, before sighing and standing up. "As long as you understand...I'll be back to get you when the surgery is over."

"Thank you," Kurt said, and she nodded before she left the glass room, and Kurt was left alone with his thoughts.

_Try not to think about it,_ he told himself. _Think about happy things, like holding Blaine's hand. Or singing in the car. Or picnics. Or swinging..._The image of Blaine collapsing in front of the swingset was dragged to the front of his mind. _Oh, God, not that! Kurt, don't think that, don't think about that!_ But once he started, he couldn't stop. Blaine falling, on the ground, his eyes closed, barely breathing...then Blaine being loaded into the ambulance, and disappearing, eclipsed by the doors; then arriving at the hospital, Kurt shunted around by the bustling doctors and EMTs...Blaine being moved from one gurney to another, and wheeled away...him in the hospital bed, so small and sick and pale...on the brink of death...and then the worst, that awful forbidden thought that had always been there, in the back of his mind, but he'd done his best to ignore it...he conjoured up the image of Dr. Kara walking out from the double doors, as if in slow motion, looking at Kurt and saying it, saying that that operation had failed, that Blaine was...gone. Gone forever, never coming back. Never to hold his hand or kiss his cheek or his mouth or any other part of him, never to know what it was like to make love to Blaine, to grow old with him, to raise children with him, to be able to sleep in the same bed and not have to go to school the next day...it was too much, and suddenly Kurt was shaking with the violent sobs that wracked his lean body. The old woman glanced at him for a second, then turned back to the TV, beginning to cry herself.

Kurt's heart was racing; it was almost painful the way it beat mercilessly against his ribcage, and he was certain the entire world could hear it. His palms were sweaty as they frantically swiped at his face, pushing through his hair and scraping at his skin-probably leaving marks, but he didn't care.

He sat in this platonic state of sheer agony for...for who knew how long? Minutes? Hours? Days? He sat and sobbed for a long time, until long after the old woman left, pressing a handkerchief to her mouth, right up until his own parents appeared outside of the glass and rushed in, dropping into chairs on either side of him and encircling him in a tangle of arms and support.

"It's okay, Kurt," Burt said, rubbing his son's back in circles that kept colliding with the circles Carole was making.

"It's okay to be afraid, honey," Carole said, "It's okay to cry." In fact, her own voice was shaking as she let out a few sobs of her own.

They sat in that silent embrace for another long stretch of time. Finally, several hours later, the glass door opened again.

It was Dr. Kara.

Kurt's heart leaped into his throat as he lifted his head and she opened her mouth.

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**Okay so this chapter is probably really crappily written-the majority was written at like 2 AM. So I apologize. I hope you can still love me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I feel like I am forever apologizing for posting short chapters, but here I am again, apologizing for it...can you guys even tell? It's only a difference of like 1,000 words or so, but still...I feel bad!**

**Anyways, MORE THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS :] You guys are awesome!**

**Oh, and sorry if this has a few typos...I was kind of hurrying through it (I don't like writing about Blaine being sick...it makes me sad) and also my keyboard was having some MAJOR issues (I'm talking Emily Rose/the Last Exorcist here) so please forgive me if there are minor mistakes! Other than that...enjoy!**

* * *

"The operation is over," Dr. Kara said, and Kurt moved to the edge of his seat, still enclosed by his parents' arms. They looked at her expectantly. "And, for the time being...it was a success."

Kurt's heart stopped. The air was dead still; absolutely silent. Then he felt it, the explosion of joy inside his chest, his head, eclipsing his thoughts and his breath, leaving him gasping. "Can I see him?" he managed to choke out, and felt his parents give him a tight squeeze.

Dr. Kara hesitated. "Well...he's asleep, and he probably will be for the next few hours-"

"I don't care! That didn't stop me before!" Kurt cried, jumping up and almost toppling his parents to the floor.

"Kurt-" Burt said, but Dr. Kara shook her head.

"No, I understand," she said. "I suppose you could sit with him, for a little while."

"Thank you!" Kurt said, extracting himself from his family and racing for the door. "Where is he?" That was when he noticed Dr. Kara's face: still somber. "What...what happened to Blaine's mom?"

Dr. Kara took a deep breath. "The operation on her end...was not as much of a success. She's still alive, but only just. She may pull through, or she might...not. It's hard to tell at this point."

Kurt felt his stomach drop, and he wasn't quite sure why. Hadn't he spent the past few months detesting this woman? Yes, he had. But she had just saved Blaine's life, and that was all that mattered, really.

"Kurt?" Burt said, looking at his son uncertainly, and Kurt shook himself. "What?"

"Dr. Kara just asked if you still wanted to see Blaine," Carole said, surveying her step-son with a slight frown. "Are you okay?"

Kurt nodded, unsure at first, then frantically. "Yes! Yes I want to see Blaine! Now, please!"

Dr. Kara jumped a little at his sudden urgency. "Yes, of course...follow me."

"We'll wait here," Burt said, putting his arm around Carole, who nodded. Kurt nodded too as he followed Dr. Kara out of the room.

Kurt gasped as she lead him into a room a little ways down the hallway and drew back the curtain. It was...worse than he had expected. But then again, what exactly had he expected? For Blaine to be shiny and perfect and new again? Honestly...yes, that had kind of been what he had in mind.

It wasn't that Blaine was any less beautiful-only now in a much more terrible, pain-stricken way. It was heartbreaking, and Kurt felt tears come to his eyes as he stumbled across the room, one hand outstretched. Dr. Kara silently backed out and shut the door.

"Blaine," Kurt gasped, clumsily picking one of his boyfriend's hands up from under the blankets and pressing it earnestly to his face. "Oh my God, Blaine." His eyes travelled from the top of Blaine's curly hair-messy as ever-over the bruises under his eyes, the cut on his lip that was almost all the way healed, all the way down his thin body, two the two bulges at the end that marked his beautiful feet. Kurt closed his eyes, hearing the soft _thud_ as tears dripped off his face and onto the bed. He was quiet for a minute, and then said in a whisper: "_You think I'm pretty without any make-up on...you think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong...I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down._.." Kurt paused to wipe his eyes, and laughed a little. He stood up to walk across the room to get a tissue from beside the sink, and skipped right to the chorus. "_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep, let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back_..." He stood with his back to Blaine as he wiped his eyes with the tissues. Then, suddenly,

"_Mmm_," Kurt froze. He turned his head slowly. Had he really heard...? No...it couldn't be. But then he saw it, he saw Blaine's perfect mouth move, ever so slightly, and heard a few mumbled words, the beautiful voice cracking. But Kurt could have listened to it forever. "_My...heart stops...when you look at me...j-just one...touch_..." Blaine stopped struggling, cracking one eye to look at Kurt. "_Now baby...I believe._"

Kurt felt his jaw drop, and his lungs almost hurt from the breath he took in. "Oh my God," he said. "Oh...oh my God." Blaine opened the other eye and smiled weakly, and Kurt lost it. He hurled himself across the room in a flurry of tears and strangled sobs, and threw himself across Blaine, kissing every part of his face and neck and shoulders and arms...

"Ow," Blaine muttered, laughing unevenly. "Kurt, Kurt, ow!"

"Oh, God!" Kurt said, jumping back and clapping his hands over his mouth. "Oh my God, Blaine, I'm so sorry! I just...oh _God,_ Blaine!"

Blaine laughed, his voice dry.

"Do you want some-nurse," Kurt said, stumbling over his words. "I'll get a nurse-"

"No," Blaine croaked, his eyes widening. "Stay here..." he pleaded, his voice barely more than a whisper. Kurt nodded, tears in his eyes and he came to sit down on the edge of the bed. Blaine pressed the CALL button on the armrest, and dropped his hand to Kurt's thigh. Kurt didn't say anything, but kept eye contact as he leaned in to press his lips to Blaine's and lifted a hand to his stubbly cheek.

"Ye-oh!" someone said as the door was pushed open. Kurt, once again, flung himself away from Blaine. And he couldn't help but feel a _little_ annoyed; after all, this _was_ his boyfriend, and it had been a very very long time since they could touch and kiss and be together...but just seeing Blaine's eyes open, awake, and _alive_ would have to be enough. And it was; it was the most beautiful thing Kurt had ever seen...that is, until the nurse bustled over and blocked his view.

"You're awake!" she said, pressing the CALL button once again to shut off the alarm. "Excellent!" She turned to Kurt. "I'm very sorry, but you're going to have to leave while we check up on our friend Blaine..."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but did not argue. He heard Blaine laugh softly, and his heart soared. So all he said was, "Okay," and he left, pulling the door shut behind him.

He skipped down the hallway-yes, _skipped_-and back to the glass room. His parents were there still of course, talking with Dr. Kara. Kurt pushed the door open and cried, "Blaine's awake!" Burt and Carole's heads snapped up, and Dr. Kara whipped around. "What?" they all cried at once, leaping to their feet. Kurt lead them at a run back out of the room and down the hall, but Dr. Kara threw out an arm to stop them from entering. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait here," she said, and let herself in.

Kurt turned to his parents, beaming, and saw that they were beaming right back. They threw themselves together in a warm embrace, and Carole pulled away, tears in her eyes. "I'm going to go call Finn," she said, and walked back towards the family room.

Burt smiled and clapped a hand to his son's shoulder. He felt like he should say something, but he couldn't figure out what. Kurt raised his head, smiling up at his Dad.

"It's okay," he said, and stepped forward to hug his father again.

* * *

"So what was it like, walking around without me?" Blaine said with a grin later, as he and Kurt sat next to each other on the hospital bed. It was wide enough for both of them to lay side-by-side, which is what they were doing, Blaine's foot stroking Kurt's under the blanket.

"Absolute hell," Kurt said, bumping Blaine's shoulder with his own. Blaine leaned his head against Kurt's. "I missed you," Kurt whispered, and Blaine sighed.

. "I missed you too," Blaine said, and Kurt laughed.

"You were asleep!" Kurt said, nudging him again, and Blaine laughed back, pushing against Kurt with his own shoulder.

"I still missed you!"

Kurt was silent for a moment "What...um..."

"What?" Blaine encouraged, but Kurt shook his head.

"Tell me!" Blaine pleaded. "I've been in a coma! I haven't spoken to you in, what three days?"

"Oh, real mature," Kurt teased. "Pulling the coma card!"

"Please tell me?" Blaine said softly, and Kurt sighed.

"It's a stupid question."

"Ask me anyways," Blaine said.

."Fine," Kurt said. "I was wondering...what it's like to be in a coma."

. "That's not stupid!" Blaine said, pushing against him again. "It's a good question!"

."So answer it then!" Kurt said, laughing again. They were doing a lot of laughing this afternoon, delirious from being around each other after so long apart.

"Okay!" Blaine chuckled. "It's like...well, it's not like much of anything. It's just like being asleep.. A really, really deep sleep."

"Could you hear me? I came by every day to talk to you."

.Blaine nodded. "I think so. Did you sing?"

"A little."

"It was nice."

Another quiet moment passed.

"Did you dream?" Kurt asked.

"Yes," Blaine said. "Usually about you."

Kurt was flattered. "And everything else?"

"My parents."

Kurt sat up suddenly, making Blaine jump.

"Jesus, Kurt, what's going on?"

"Blaine, I almost forgot! Your mother!"

Blaine blinked at him. "What about my mother?"

"Blaine, do you know who your donor was?"

Blaine shook his head slowly. "Do you mean...do you mean my mom gave it to me?" Kurt nodded. "Is she here?" Kurt hesitated. "Where is she?"

"She...the surgery didn't go as .well for her," Kurt said gently, and Blaine wilted right in front of him, fear etching onto his face.

"She didn't...d-"

"Oh, no! No, no!" Kurt said. "No, she's...still alive. But Dr. Kara said it could go either way."

Blaine face fell, and it filled Kurt with an ache. "C-can I see her?"

Kurt opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. It was yet another nurse, this one wearing a motherly-but-stern expression.

"Okay, boys," she said. "We've let you have your time, but visiting time was over three hours ago. It's after midnight; I have to ask you to leave."

Kurt didn't move. Blaine looked at the nurse desperately. "Can I see my mom?"

The nurse's face fell. "Well..."

"Please?" Blaine whispered.

"I suppose...but not until tomorrow," she said, adopting her stern demeanor once again. She turned to Kurt. "You really have to leave."

"Okay," Kurt sighed. "Can I have just one more minute?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Fine. One minute, that's all you get."

"Thank you!" Kurt said, and didn't move until she had shut the door behind her. He turned back to Blaine and brushed the curly hair away from his eyes. Blaine's eyes were still sad, and that made Kurt sad.

"Hey," he whispered, touching their foreheads together. "It's all going to be okay."

"That's what you said when I got sick," Blaine whispered back.

"And look how it all turned out," Kurt replied with a smile. After a second, Blaine smiled too, and closed the space between their mouths. Kurt lifted his hand to Blaine's stubbly cheek once again, and Blaine's warm hand cradled the back of his neck. "God I missed you," Kurt said again, turning his mouth away a fraction of an inch.

"I know," Blaine chuckled, bringing Kurt's lips back to his own. "But we have plenty of time to make up for it..."

About a minute later, their was a knock on the door. They were just able to pull away before it opened and the nurse stood there, hands on her hips. "All right, I gave you an extra thirty seconds. Now ske-daddle!"

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine as he stood up. He started to walk away, but Blaine held fast to his hand. "Blaine-"

"Come back tomorrow?" Blaine pleaded, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Of course," Kurt promised. "We can see your mom together."

Blaine smiled. "Love you," he whispered, and Kurt smiled back.

"I love you too."

* * *

Right after school the next day, Kurt drove straight to the hospital. He signed in at the nurse's station and hurried through the double doors, and skipped once again down the hallway to Blaine's room and pushed open the door.

"Hi Kurt," Blaine said pleasantly, folding up the newspaper he had been reading. "How are you today?"

"I'm okay," Kurt asked as he drew up a chair.

Blaine gave him an _are you kidding me?_ sort of look and scooted over, patting the space on the bed next to him. Kurt smiled and climbed up next to him, throwing the covers over his feet after he kicked his shoes off. "Better now that I'm here. How are you?" Kurt repeated.

"Very tired. And very ready to get out of here," Blaine said as he bitterly looked around the bland room.

"Oh, it's not so bad," Kurt said. "The bed is comfortable, and you have tons of other people waiting on you hand and foot, and you don't have to go to school, and there are some very interesting...ceiling tiles..." Kurt said, tilting his head up to look at the swirls on the ceiling, but Blaine kept his eyes on him.

"Yeah, but I miss you," he said, and Kurt brought his face back down to meet his gaze.

"I miss you too," Kurt said with a laugh. "More than you can imagine."

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and snuggled close to him, curling his legs against Kurt's. They lay in entwined silence for a while before there was a knock on the door.

A nurse. Of course.

"Blaine?" she said. Thankfully, this was not the nurse from last night; she was younger, kinder looking. "You wanted to see your mother today, right?"

Blaine sat up instantly, exchanging a glance with Kurt. "Of course!"

She smiled, producing a wheelchair from outside the door. "Well I'm here to take you to her."

Kurt got out of the bed and held out a hand to Blaine; he looped one arm around his frail waist and held his hand with the other, carefully guiding Blaine to the wheelchair. The nurse made to grab the handles, but Kurt politely brushed her hands away. "I don't mind pushing," he said, and started to wheel Blaine out.

"Go faster!" Blaine urged, pounding his fists on the armrests, and Kurt laughed. He ran a few steps, then jerked to a stop, popping Blaine into a wheelie.

"Oh my God!" Blaine screamed, and the group burst out laughing. A few nurses looked over with disapproving glances as Dr. Kara came out of a door directly to their right, her eyebrows raised but a smile on her face.

"Having fun?" she asked. "I was actually just coming to see you, Blaine," she said. "You can be discharged today."

"Really?" Blaine said hopefully, reaching his hand back to Kurt's to give it a squeeze.

Dr. Kara nodded. "You seem to be healing just fine. You'll need to come back in a few days for a check-up, and get lots of rest, but I think you're going to be just fine."

"So...I'm not sick anymore?"

Dr. Kara smiled. "You're not sick anymore."

Kurt felt his jaw drop as Blaine turned around to beam at him. Kurt's heart soared, and suddenly he couldn't see how anything could ever be wrong or bad again; in this moment, everything was absolutely perfect.

Until Dr. Kara reminded them of what they were doing. "Were you guys on your way to see Barbra?"

"Indeed we were," the nurse answered with a nod. "Until these knuckleheads started showing off for the ladies," she said, and Kurt and Blaine exchanged a glance.

"That's not exactly how it went down..." Blaine said, trying to keep a straight face. But he lost as soon as he heard Kurt trying to contain his laughter.

The nurse looked uneasily between the two of them, color rapidly rising in her cheeks.

"Well uh...I'll leave you guys to go on your way then," Dr. Kara said awkwardly, edging down the hallway, and the nurse nodded hastily. "This way, boys," she said, and continued down the hallway.

They were almost to the end before she suddenly stopped in front of a closed door. She quietly pushed it open, standing back to let Kurt steer Blaine through.

It was bad, even worse than Blaine's room. In Blaine's room, there had at least been a cards from the Warblers, Rachel, and Mercedes. There were some flowers and a tacky balloon that Kurt had brought and Blaine had made fun of him for-but here, there was nothing.

"Mom?" Blaine whispered as Kurt wheeled him closer. He reached for her hand, wrapping it in both of his own. "She's so cold," he whispered, and Kurt felt his heart break.

His heart was certainly doing a lot of breaking lately.

"Is she going to be okay?" Blaine whispered.

"We...don't know," Dr. Kara answered. "It could still go either way."

Blaine didn't answer, only stared at his mother. "Can I...can I have a minute alone?"

"Of course," Dr. Kara said, and started out, followed by the nurse and Kurt.

"Not you, Kurt," Blaine said without turning around. "I want you to stay...if that's okay."

Kurt glanced at Dr. Kara and shrugged. "Okay." He walked over and sat Indian-style on the floor next to Blaine, leaning against the bed so he could watch his boyfriend, who, Kurt noticed, was crying softly.

_There goes that damn heart_, Kurt thought, acknowledging the now too-familiar ache in his chest. _Breaking again_. He reached up and put a hand on Blaine's knee. Blaine shut his eyes and took a hand away from his mother's to put it on top of Kurt's.

_We can get through this...can't we?_

* * *

**Okay, guys, did you HONESTLY think I would KILL BLAINE?**

**Are you crazy?**

**Although if I'm being perfecting honest, when I first started this story...that was my original intention. But now I love him too much to ever let anything bad ever happen to him ever ;]**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, I'm baaaaack :D Sorry it's been so long since I updated, it's been crazy lately and my laptop is still having issues...so once again, please bear with me if there are a few typos. So here you go, an extra long chapter!**

**Enjoy, and don't hesitate to tell me what you think ;]**

* * *

An hour later, Kurt and Blaine were back in Blaine's room, preparing him for discharge.

"Are you okay?" Kurt whispered as he pretended to straighten the flowers he had brought. Blaine had been quiet for a long time since they'd been to see Barbra. Blaine nodded slowly, absently rolling himself back and forth in the wheelchair.

For most of the hour, they had just sat by Barbra in silence. Kurt could respect that; he just sat and let his mind wander. What was really important was that he was there in case Blaine needed him.

"Who's ready to go home?" someone shouted as they pushed open the door. It was Burt and Carole, huge smiles on both of their faces. Carole was carrying a pile of street clothes for Blaine to change into.

_At least he can get out of that horrible smock_, Kurt thought. He watched Blaine's face carefully, but his boyfriend had arranged his expression into a grin. If he felt sad, he wasn't showing it.

"Hooray!" Blaine cried. "I'm so glad to be out of here!"

"We brought you some more comfortable clothes for the ride home," Carole said, depositing the pile on the bed. "We'll leave you alone while you change." Burt, Carole, and Kurt started out, but once again, Blaine called out to him.

"Kurt? Can you stay and...help me?"

Burt stopped too, eyeing Blaine suspiciously...but Carole rolled her eyes and put a hand on his arm, leading him out and shutting the door.

"Do you really need help, or do you just need to talk?" Kurt asked, leaning against the counter and raising an eyebrow.

"Well...a little of both," Blaine admitted. "Can you untie this stupid thing?" His arms were twisted behind his head, struggling with the knot on the smock, and Kurt bustled over, brushing Blaine's delicate fingers away gently. He quickly untied it and pulled it off of his arms, leaving Blaine in just his underwear.

_Damn. This boy is always in his underwear at the wrong time,_ Kurt thought, standing in front of Blaine to help him up from the chair. Blaine turned around to get the clothes, and Kurt sucked in his breath as he noticed the line of stitches, almost like a smile, arcing across Blaine's back.

Blaine looked around at the sound. "What?"

"Nothing," Kurt said, dropping his eyes. "It just looks like it hurts."

Blaine reached his hand around to softly brush the scar and shrugged. "It's not too bad." As Blaine brought his arm back around, Kurt reached out to trace the scar with the tip of his finger; Blaine stiffened, and Kurt recoiled.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"You didn't," Blaine said, turning around the the shirt in his hands. "You just surprised me is all."

They looked at each other for a moment, small smiles playing on each of their mouths, before Kurt shook himself. "I, uh...I guess we'd better get you dressed before they start thinking we're up to something..."

"If only we were," Blaine said with a wink. Part of Kurt was ecstatic at this display of affection...but another part, deep down, was worried that Blaine was only putting on a brave face. Again.

"You know, you don't have to act like you're okay if you're not-" Kurt started to say, but Blaine looked up at him sharply.

"I'm okay, Kurt, okay?"

Kurt shrank back a little, startled at Blaine's tone. "Okay..."

Blaine sighed and started to get dressed.

* * *

"So what's for dinner, Blaine?" Carole said as they pulled up to the house later. "Anything you want."

"Hm..." Blaine said thoughtfully. "Well...I could really go for some pizza."

"Pizza it is, then!" Carole said brightly, unbuckling her seatbelt. She handed Kurt the house keys so he and Blaine could go inside while she and Burt unpacked Blaine's things from the car. Once again, Kurt wound an arm around Blaine's waist to support him as they made their way up the front walk. Kurt pushed open the door to the darkened foyer, and then-

"SURPRISE!" a chorus of voices shouted, the lights suddenly coming on. Blaine and Kurt both stumbled back in equal states of shock as the voices continued: "Welcome home, Blaine!"

As their eyes adjusted to the light, the boys could see that, somehow, the entirety of both the New Directions and the Warblers had squeezed themselves into the front hall of the Hummel-Hudson house, armed with balloons, silly string, and confetti, all of which were released as Kurt tugged a grinning Blaine over the threshold.

"Holy cow, guys!" Blaine said, still looking surprised. "You didn't have to do this!"

"Yes we did!, you chucklehead!" Warbler Nick said as he and Jeff looped arms around Blaine to pull him in for a brotherly hug. Soon Kurt lost sight of him entirely as the rest of the Warblers swooped in to join the hug or slap Blaine's back.

But Kurt still noticed how Blaine kept a tight grip on his hand.

Once Blaine was released, Rachel and Mercedes rushed over to envelope him in a hug of their own, squealing and crying.

"Okay, okay, give the boy some room!" Carole laughed as she and Burt came through the door, carrying even more balloons and snacks, followed by Finn, who was carrying a stack of pizzas.

"I was only gone for a few days!" Blaine said, as the group migrated to the more spacious living room.

"Yeah, but you scared us, man!" one of the Warblers shouted, playfully slapping his arm, and everyone laughed.

As he laughed, Blaine craned his neck to look over the heads of the crowd to make eye contact with Kurt. He winked as if to say _we'll have our time later_, and Kurt felt his stomach flutter.

It sure was good to have him back.

* * *

"That was crazy," Blaine said as he collapsed, several hours later, onto their bed. "I'm exhausted."

"Well that's too bad," Kurt said, as he shut the door and leaned against it for a second. "Because you still have to pay attention to me." He grinned and took a running leap, careful to land right next to (and not on top of) Blaine, making him rise off the mattress a little.

Blaine laughed, putting his hands on Kurt's waist and pulling him to hover over top of him.

"I love you," Blaine breathed as he pulled their mouths together.

"Mm," Kurt groaned into Blaine's mouth. "I love you too." Blaine answered by gently and quickly pressing his hips into Kurt's, sending Kurt into a frenzy. Quickly he was unbuttoning Blaine's shirt, careful not to let their mouths lose contact as he ran his hands over Blaine's smooth chest. He felt like a starving man staring at a feast, a drowning man getting his first breath of air...or just a horny teenager who was finally getting to kiss his boyfriend in peace. Kurt moved his hands to Blaine's back, pressed between him and the mattress. Suddenly Kurt felt the rough string of stitches and felt Blaine gasp beneath him.

"Shoot!" Kurt whispered, rolling off of Blaine. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Oh, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Blaine chuckled, sitting up stiffly. "You just got a little excited."

"I guess I should calm down a little," Kurt said, feeling his cheeks redden. Luckily it was dark.

"Or..." Blaine said slowly. "I could just take my pain medicine..."

"I think I like that a little better," Kurt said, lithely rolling off of the bed and loping into the bedroom. He returned a few seconds later, holding a bottle of pills and a paper cup of water. He turned the nightstand lamp on and kneeled beside Blaine, holding out the two pills in his palm. Blaine accepted them and the cup of water and tossed them in his mouth.

"Bottoms up," he said, and took a gulp of water. "Now where were we?" Once again, he wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling them back together, but Kurt laughed and pulled his arms from around him.

"No...I don't want to do anything if I have to control myself." He snuggled closer to Blaine, spooning him, and said in his ear, "Besides...I missed this too."

"But cuddling can be so boring," Blaine groaned.

"So you don't want to? All right then..." Kurt teased, unwrapping his arms and inching away. "If you say so."

"No! Come back!" Blaine cried, rolling over to tug Kurt back to him. "I changed my mind. I love cuddling. I missed cuddling." He kissed Kurt's Adam's apple and snuggled closer, closing his eyes. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, as I've told you a hundred times."

"I will never get tired of hearing it, though," Blaine assured him.

"Then I'll never get tired of saying it."

Blaine sighed in content, allowing Kurt to embrace him tightly, and they fell asleep.

* * *

Kurt couldn't be sure what made him wake up, but most likely, it was because he was absolutely freezing. The covers had been completely pulled off of him, and Blaine was gone. There was no warmth pressed up against him anymore.

"Blaine?" he whispered into the darkness, and his bedroom door opened.

"Kurt," Blaine said desperately, stumbling across the room and landing on his boyfriend's lap. "Kurt, my mom's awake."

"What?" Kurt's eyes flew to their alarm clock: 3:34 AM. "She is?"

"Yes," Blaine said, hugging him tightly. "The hospital just called!"

"The hospital called you at three thirty in the morning?"

"I told them to call me, no matter what time it was. She's awake, Kurt!" He kissed Kurt's mouth quickly. "I have to get to the hospital." He jumped off the bed and hurried to the chest of drawers, rifling through the bottom draw and extracting a pair of jeans.

Kurt hesitated for a moment; but then he remembered what it was like. He would have been there in a _second_ if the hospital called him saying Blaine had woken up. So he too got up and started getting dressed.

* * *

"Okay, hold on, let me just leave a note for Dad and Carole," Kurt said once they were downstairs, bundled tightly in their coats and hats.

Blaine drummed his fingers nervously on the counter as Kurt scribbled out a note and grabbed his keys. They hurried out into the cold night, and didn't speak all the way to the hospital.

* * *

As they pushed through the automatic doors to the hospital entrance, the receptionist looked up in alarm. "Boys, you can't-"

"My mother has been in a coma since he gave me part of her liver," Blaine said sharply, leaning over the counter. "Now she's awake. Either you let me through, or...well, I'll go back anyway."

The receptionist sighed in irritation. "What's her name?"

* * *

Dr. Kara was waiting for them outside of Barbra's room.

_Good Lord_, Kurt thought as he caught sight of the deep purple circles under the doctor's eyes. _Does this woman ever sleep?_

"Hello, boys," she said, hand on the door knob. "I'm sorry we called at such an inconvenient time-"

"No, no, it's fine," Blaine burst out, waving a hand. "I just want to see her."

"She's still very groggy," Dr. Kara warned. "She might not recognize you immediately."

"But she's going to be okay?"

She sighed. "She's stable. I think at this point, most likely, yes, with time she will be okay."

Blaine sighed in relief as Dr. Kara pushed opened the door.

It was mostly dark inside; the only like came from the dim table lamp next to the bed. Barbra was sitting up, leaned against a stack of many pillows, reading a book that was resting on its own pillow in her lap. She looked up at the sound of the door opening. "Mom?"

She studied Blaine's face for a moment as he stepped into the circle of low light; Kurt found himself holding his breath as he waited for some sign of recognition from her. After only a few seconds, though, her face broke into a wide smile.

"Blaine," she said softly, and gently raised her arms. Blaine stumbled forward, grabbing her in a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed, and Kurt saw a tear leak out from one of them. He felt Dr. Kara tap him lightly on the shoulder; she gestured to the door and he followed her out.

"I figured we should let them have some time alone," she said, closing the door quietly behind them.

"Of course," Kurt said as he nodded. "How long will she have to stay here?"

"It's hard to say, but hopefully not long. A few days, maybe."

"Oh, that's excellent!" Kurt cheered.

Dr. Kara smiled. "Now that she's awake, recovery for her should advance very quickly. But if you'll excuse me, Kurt, I need to see some other patients...you can have a seat across the hall."

"Oh, certainly! Thank you so much, doctor," Kurt said, and gave her a little wave as she started away.

Kurt let himself fall heavily into one of the chairs, facing the door. Suddenly, he was very tired. It seemed as if the weight of many years had been hanging over him, and now that everything-well, almost everything-was resolved, it was finally hitting him.

_Blaine won't mind if I just close my eyes for a few seconds..._ Kurt through idly as he let his heavy lids fall shut.

* * *

"Kurt?" Someone was shaking Kurt's shoulder and whispering in his ear. "Kurt?"

"Huh?" Kurt cried, jerking awake. "Wha's goin' on?" he said, blinking blearily around him.

Blaine drew back from his ear, laughing. "You fell asleep."

"What time is is?" Kurt asked groggily, tugging his phone from his pocket.

"Five twenty," Blaine answered, dropping into the chair next to him.

"Holy crap! Nine missed calls!" Kurt exclaimed, immediately jerking to attention. "Shit!"

"Calm down," Blaine laughed again, putting a hand on his shoulder. "They're all from your Dad. He called me, finally, looking for us. I think he must have thought we'd run off and gotten married or something."

"Oh," Kurt said, leaning back against the chair and closing his eyes again. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay," Blaine said softly, tenderly brushing Kurt's hair back with his fingertips. "I appreciated having time alone with my mom."

"How is she?" Kurt asked, opening one eye.

Blaine sighed. "Better. We had a long talk about...everything. Did you know she left my Dad?"

"Yeah," Kurt nodded. "She told me." Blaine didn't say anything, only nodded. "How do you feel about that?"

Blaine shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "It's weird, but...it's for the best, you know? He was never good for us."

"It's okay to be upset if you want," Kurt reminded him, opening both eyes and putting a hand on Blaine's arm. "He was your dad, after all."

"Yeah, but he didn't act like it. It's just...hard." Blaine turned his head away a little, rubbing his eye with his fist.

"Blaine," Kurt said, drawing his boyfriend close to him. "It's gonna be okay. You have me, and now your Mom too. Nothing bad's ever gonna happen again, okay?"

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said in a shaky voice, and Kurt held him tighter.

"I love you too," Kurt whispered, and neither of them said anything until Blaine yawned against Kurt's face. "Now come on, sleepy head," Kurt laughed. "Let's get you home and get some rest."

"But..." Blaine's eyes drifted back towards the door to his Mom's room.

"We'll come visit her later," Kurt said. "Besides, you'll enjoy it more when you're actually awake."

"Yeah...I guess you're right," Blaine said, allowing Kurt to pull him to his feet.

"I always am," Kurt said, kissing his forehead and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Now let's go."

* * *

A few hours later, Blaine woke up in Kurt's bed, surrounded by the thick, sweet smell of fresh French toast. "Mm," he groaned, stretching his arm to search for the warmth of Kurt's body...but it wasn't there.

"Kurt?" he said, propping himself up, and sure enough, the other side of the bed was empty.

"Figures," he grumbled, letting himself fall back into the pillow. "I guess you can't have French toast and your boyfriend at the same time." He lay in silence for another few minutes before the ache-whether to feel Kurt next to him or the craving for sustenance, he wasn't sure-got the better of him, and he dragged himself out of the bed and down the stairs.

"There you are!" Kurt sang as he caught sight of Blaine. He was leaned against the kitchen island, reading the newspaper. "Geez, don't you look like something the cat dragged in."

Blaine caught sight of his reflection in the microwave door and gasped. His normally unruly hair had reached a new level of chaos-it was sticking out in all directions, even straight up in some places. "Oh my God," he said, trying to flatten it.

"Don't bother," Kurt said, walking around the island and putting his hands on Blaine's hips. "I think it's cute." He kissed Blaine's mouth softly

"Wait," Blaine said, pulling away. "What about school?"

"You're not really supposed to be going to school yet..."

"Yeah, but what about you?"

"I didn't want to leave you alone. Besides, did you really think I was going to school after getting up at 3 AM?"

"I guess not..." Blaine shrugged. "But I feel bad that you're missing school because of me."

"Do you want me to go?" Kurt said, leaning away and pretending to leave. "Cuz I'll go if you want me too..."

"No!" Blaine cried, grabbing Kurt's wrist and pulling them back together. Blaine kissed him frantically for a second before Kurt pulled away, laughing.

"Geez, Blaine, I was just kidding!"

"Well don't do it again," Blaine said, trying to continue kissing him.

"You're toast is going to burn..." Kurt warned him half-heartedly as he tried pulling away again.

"Screw the damn toast, Kurt," Blaine said, pressing his lips to Kurt's neck.

"No no, I worked hard on this! There'll be plenty of time for cuddling later," Kurt said, swatting Blaine's grabby-hands away from his waist and dancing away.

"Cuddling?" Blaine said, seating himself on the counter.

"We'll see," Kurt said, glancing at him over his shoulder.

"That smells good," Blaine said, leaning over to try to watch Kurt cook.

"Thanks," Kurt replied. "It was the first thing I learned to make after my Mom died. My Dad's not much of a chef, in case you didn't notice."

"I did, thanks, " Blaine laughed lightly.

"Go sit at the table," Kurt commanded. "I shall bring it to you!"

"Kurt, I really don't mind doing it-"

"Go!"

"Okay, okay!" Blaine said, jumping off the counter and trotting over to the kitchen table, dropping into a seat and putting his chin in his palm. "How much loooongerrrr?"

"It's done!" Kurt sang, twirling around and balancing the plate in the palm of one hand. "OJ or milk?"

"Milk please," Blaine said. "Make it chocolate?"

"You are so high maintenance," Kurt teased, pulling out the chocolate syrup. He carried it, along with the milk, a glass, and the plate over to the seat next to Blaine at the table.

"How'd you carry all that?" Blaine said in awe. "Are you magic?"

"You caught me!" Kurt laughed, squirting a liberal amount of syrup into the milk. "I'm a wizard."

"I knew it! How else could I have been ensnared by your love-trap!"

"Could it possibly be my astounding charm? My devilish good looks?"

"Or the fact that you're a perfect angel," Blaine said, smiling appreciatively as Kurt handed him the glass. He took a big sip, leaving behind a chocolate-milk-moustache.

"Adorable," Kurt said, wiping the moustache away gently with his thumb. Blaine grabbed his wrist so he could kiss his hand and wink. Kurt felt his stomach flutter.

"You're not so bad yourself," Blaine said before tucking in.

"So?" Kurt said, watching him carefully. "How is it?"

"Mmmm," Blaine moaned. "It's delicious! My compliments to the chef!"

"I'll let him know you approve."

"I'd rather tell him myself," Blaine said, getting out of his chair a little so he could lean over and kiss Kurt.

"You taste like cinnamon," Kurt giggled when they pulled away.

"You're the one who was so heavy-handed with this toast!"

"Are you complaining?"

"Not at all!" Blaine said, shovelling another forkful into his mouth.

Kurt watched him eat thoughtfully for another minute. Blaine looked at him uneasily. "Uh...what are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Kurt said, smiling. "You're cute when you eat."

"Okay..." Blaine said, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What, you can compliment me, but I can't compliment you?"

"Not when I don't deserve it," Blaine said, taking another sip of his milk.

"You always deserve it."

"We're sure being cheesy this morning."

Kurt laughed. "But I like it."

"Yeah, it's not so bad." Blaine leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up into Kurt's lap. Kurt looked down at them, eyebrow raised, then back up at Blaine, who responded by grinning and wiggling his toes.

"I was thinking we could watch a couple of movies," Kurt said, running a finger up the middle of Blaine's foot and making him squirm. "And maybe visit your Mom, if you want."

"That sounds lovely," Blaine said, finishing his toast and dropping his crumpled napkin on the plate. "That was so good, Kurt."

"Thanks," Kurt said, pushing Blaine's feet off of him and carrying the plate to the sink. "Go pick out a movie!"

"Okay!" Blaine jumped up from his seat and bounded into the living room. Kurt heard him giggling as he opened the movie cabinet and he rolled his eyes. Blaine could be such a five-year-old sometimes...but he loved it. He joined Blaine into the living room, just as he was feeding a disc into the DVD player and laughing.

"What'd you pick?" he asked as they settled onto the couch, Kurt cradled to Blaine's chest. Kurt threw a blanket over their legs, and Blaine wrapped his arms around him.

Blaine laughed maniacally.

"Okay, now you're scaring me," Kurt said, turning his head to look at his boyfriend suspiciously. "What-oh, God," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"All this talk about wizards got me in the mood!" Blaine said. "I love Harry Potter!"

"As do I," Kurt admitted, snuggling closer as he felt Blaine's warm arms tighten around him.

"I knew I made a good choice when I fell in love with you," Blaine whispered in his ear. Kurt felt his heart skip a beat; would Blaine ever _not_ have this effect on him? He hoped not.

They remained silent and still until the lights began to go out on Privet Drive; that was when Kurt felt Blaine's hand snaking off his arm and coming to rest on his thigh. Kurt's heart sped up a little, but he tried to ignore it as best he could...until Blaine gave it the slightest-and most distracting-squeeze. Blaine chuckled as Kurt gave a little gasp, and he moved his other hand to rest on Kurt's navel. Kurt felt his heart speed up even more, and then Blaine started kissing-like, _really_ kissing-his neck.

"Eep!" Kurt squeaked as he felt Blaine tilt his head a little to move his shirt aside and kiss his collarbone-and then he started sucking on it...he was so going to leave a hickey.

_Jerk_, Kurt thought. But he had to admit...it felt really good. He reached his hand back to Blaine's leg, pressed up against his hip, as Blaine worked his hand under his shirt. Blaine started tracing lazy circles around Kurt's bellybutton, then fingered the waistband of his pants. Kurt felt a distinct shift behind his bellybutton, and he was suddenly feeling very warm. Blaine abandoned the hem of his pants and moved up to his chest, feeling the lines and planes there. He paused, fingertips over Kurt's heart, to feel it beating erratically.

"Nervous, Kurt?" he asked innocently.

"N-no," Kurt stuttered. "Not at all."

"Good," Blaine said in his ear. "There's nothing to be nervous about."

Kurt managed a strangled mm-hmm as he tried desperately to keep his attention focused on the screen, where Harry was jumping around the living room, caught in a storm of Hogwarts letters. But it was becoming increasingly difficult, especially as the hand on his thigh began inching up, hovering above his waistband again, and then slowly, tenderly...a thumb dipped below it.

Jesus Christ, Kurt thought. Blaine hadn't even done anything-besides move his mouth back to his neck, where he was sucking again-and Kurt was already feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his lower half.

"Oh my God," Kurt moaned as Blaine grazed his earlobe with his teeth. He was working a second finger below Kurt's waistband, and Kurt was absolutely losing control.

He tightened his grip involuntarily on Blaine's thigh as Blaine fitted a third finger into Kurt's pants-but he didn't do anything. Just let it rest there, taunting. Blaine twitched his hand a fraction of an inch, and Kurt found thrusting his hips up.

"Jesus, Kurt," Blaine said, laughing a little.

"I'm sorry, I just-do you know how long I've waited to feel you next to me again?"

"I know," Blaine whispered, withdrawing his hand a little.

"No, no, what are you doing?" Kurt whined.

Blaine laughed. "Spoiled already." Kurt moaned again, pressing his back into Blaine's chest. "Relax, Kurt. I just wanted to kiss you for real, okay?"

"Oh," Kurt said, already rising a little off of Blaine to flip over. "Yes, okay."

Blaine laughed as he put his hands on Kurt's hips, drawing him closer, connecting their mouths.

It wasn't long before Kurt felt Blaine pressing back; one of Blaine's hands was caressing his face, the other pushing his shirt up again. Kurt had one hand tangled in Blaine's curly hair, the other resting on his neck. Blaine separated their mouths, kissing Kurt's neck again, leaving another hickey.

"Blaine," Kurt moaned. "Oh God, Blaine..."

Blaine grinned against his neck, and then-

"_Yer a wizard, Harry_."

"._..I'm a what?_"

Both of the boys froze, turning their heads to look at the TV, then glancing back at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Well that's certainly a mood killer," Blaine said, reaching over to the coffee table for the remote and turning the TV off. "Now where were we?"

The went straight back to kissing, mouths open and breathing heavily, hands roving all over one another. Then, suddenly, Blaine reached down to unbutton his pants. He did the same to Kurt's.

"Blaine-"

"Relax," Blaine said soothingly.

"Yeah," Kurt admitted. "Okay."

Blaine laughed, their teeth knocking together, which made Kurt laugh.

And then Blaine was pushing Kurt's pants down, rolling them down his hips. Kurt got a jittery feeling in his stomach, but in a good way. In a very good way. Blaine had one hand up Kurt's shirt, the other on his thigh over his boxers.

"Oh God," Kurt groaned. "Blaine, I-I can't,"

"It's okay," Blaine said, moving his hand a little, and Kurt moved away.

"No, Blaine," he said desperately. "I mean...I can't."

Blaine blinked at him, one hand still on his waist. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said miserably, crawling off of him and dropping his head in his hands in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Kurt, no," Blaine said, sitting up and moving to put his arm around Kurt. "No, it's okay."

"No it isn't," Kurt said, wiping his face and leaning into Blaine. "I said I was ready to...do stuff...and I'm not. I just don't think I'm ready, and you are, and I just...I'm sorry."

"Kurt, stop," Blaine said firmly, tilting Kurt's face toward him.. "Listen to me, okay? It's okay. I love you, you know that, and I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything, or that you need to do something for me, okay? Because you don't. I love you, Kurt, and I will _wait_."

"I'm such a bad boyfriend," Kurt said, leaning into Blaine's hand.

"No you are not, and don't you ever say that again! You are the best boyfriend ever, and I love you so much. I always will, okay? Until we're old and gray, forever. Until you're ready and even after that."

"I don't deserve you," Kurt said.

"Yes you do," Blaine said, kissing Kurt's forehead. "You deserve everything good in the world."

"Can we go back to cuddling?" Kurt asked quietly, and they settled back to watch Harry Potter.

To really watch it, this time.

* * *

A few hours later, the boys were on their way to the hospital to visit Blaine's mom. The day was pleasant; bright, warm. Summer was on its way, and the boys made the trip with the windows down, enjoying the feeling of the warm summer breeze washing over their faces and through their hair. Kurt was driving, one hand on the wheel, so he could keep his other hand entwined with Blaine's on the center console.

"_We could have had it alllllllllll, rollin' in the deeeeeeeeeep_," Blaine sang along with the radio. He was really getting into it, dancing and acting out the lyrics as he serenaded Kurt. "_You had my heart insiiiiiiiide of your hand, and you played it to the beat!_"

"Remind me why you don't have a record deal?" Kurt teased him once the song ended.

"Are you saying I have no talent?" Blaine said, slapping his and Kurt's hands to his chest in mock-offense.

"No," Kurt laughed. "I think you have great talent."

"Why thank you," Blaine said softly, suddenly resting his chin on Kurt's shoulder. "That's very nice of you to say."

"Blaine Anderson, you are going to make me wreck the car," Kurt said, trying to shrug him off.

"Why? Is this...distracting?" Blaine asked innocently; Kurt wondered if he had any control over the way his breath was wafting over his neck, because, yeah, it was pretty damn distracting.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it kind of is."

"What about...this?" Blaine stretched his neck to kiss Kurt's throat.

"Okay, enough, seriously, before I lose control."

"I like it when you lose control."

"Blaine Anderson!" Kurt shouted again, swerving the car a little. He took his hand away from Blaine's to put it on the wheel, his heart beating like mad.

"Aw, why'd you let go?" Blaine wiggled the fingers of his now-empty hand forlornly, giving Kurt puppy-dog eyes.

"If you can't behave yourself, then no hand-holding for you!"

"You're no fun," Blaine grumbled, returning to his side of the car and crossing his arms.

"Sure I am," Kurt said as he reached across to take Blaine's hand again. "I'm tons of fun!"

Blaine responded by rolling his eyes, so Kurt said, "We should bring your Mom some flowers. She didn't have anything to decorate her room last time we were there.

"Okay!" Blaine said, getting excited once more. Kurt pulled off into the parking lot of a florist shop, and Blaine quickly walked around the car to open his door for him.

"Such a gentleman," Kurt complimented him, knocking their shoulders together as they took each other's hands once more.

"Well, you know. I aim to please," Blaine winked, reaching forward to open the door.

* * *

"Hi, Mom!" Blaine sang as he and Kurt pushed into the hospital room. It was brighter now, Kurt noticed, with the curtains open and the TV on. It seemed more pleasant, more...alive. "Kurt and I brought you flowers. It was his idea."

"How thoughtful! They're lovely!" Barbra said, embracing Blaine as he leaned down to hug her. "Thank you, boys."

"So how are you feeling, Mom?" Blaine asked, drawing up two chairs.

"Better," she said, reaching out to hold his hand, but drawing back when she saw he was already holding Kurt's. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. The stitches don't even hurt anymore!"

"That's great. What did you guys do today?"

Kurt tried to stifle his laughter. Blaine laughed once, and ran his free hand through his hair. "Not much...we, uh, just had breakfast, and watched a movie."

"That sounds nice," she said politely, then coughed dryly. "Blaine, sweetie, would you mind getting me some water from the vending machine down the hall?"

"I'll go," Kurt offered, starting to stand up, but Blaine tugged him back down.

"No, it's okay," he said. "I'll do it."

"Well, okay," Kurt said uncertainly, sitting back down.

Barbra's eyes followed her son across the room until the door fell shut behind him. Then she turned seriously to Kurt, locking her chocolate brown eyes on his light blue ones.

"Kurt," she said after a deep breath. "I cannot thank you enough for all you've done." Kurt opened his mouth to interrupt, but she held up a frail finger to stop him. "Now let me finish. You took Blaine in and cared for him when I...didn't. I was an awful person, a horrible mother, and you, Kurt, and your family are marvelous, and there is nothing I could ever do to thank you for that. There will never be anything that will be enough. You, Kurt, are truly one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever met, and I hardly even know you. But I can see that, from the way you speak and the way Blaine looks at you. He loves you, Kurt, and I want you to know that from here on out, whatever happens...I'm rooting for you."

Kurt sat dumbstruck for a moment, gaping open-mouthed at the sickly woman in front of him. He didn't really know what to say, so he reached out a hand for hers and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you, he whispered, and he heard Blaine open the door. Barbra gave Kurt a watery smile and turned to face her son.

* * *

The next morning, Saturday, Kurt woke early. Feeling wired, he quietly got up and walked downstairs, out the front door to retrieve the paper from the sidewalk. As he bent down to pick it up, he felt something slam into him, knocking him to the ground.

"What the-" Kurt said in irritation, sitting up from the sidewalk and squinting at the hulking figure in front of him.

It was Karofsky, in the middle of a morning jog, by the looks of it.

"Out of the way, lady," he growled, taking a step back.

"You're the one who ran into me, David," Kurt pointed out, standing up and brushing himself off. "Have a nice day."

"How's your boyfriend, Hummel?" Karofsky snapped as Kurt tried to walk away. At the sound of his voice, though, Kurt stiffened.

"Just leave me alone, please, David," Kurt said, moving forward again.

Before he'd made it three feet, he heard Karofsky's heavy, quick footsteps following him. He stopped, bracing himself, and he felt the football player's meaty hand wrap around his upper arm, forcing him to turn around and face him.

"You think it's okay to walk around here like you own the place? Do you think it's okay for you to act all high and mighty and flaunt your boyfriend around like you're the freaking Queen of England?" Karofksy hissed, their faces very close. Kurt could feel the bigger boy's hot breath on his mouth, and it was incredibly unpleasant, and it filled him with anger.

"Get away from me!" Kurt shouted, ripping his arm away with so much force he stumbled a little. He heard the sound of ripping stitches coming from his shirt sleeve, and he felt a pang-he really liked these pajamas. But back to the matter at hand-Karofsky was staring at him with rage filled eyes. "You can't talk to me like that anymore, Karofsky. You don't scare me any more."

Karofsky looked surprised for a split second before he regained his angry face. "Oh yeah? Why the hell not?"

"Because after what I've been through the past few days, _nothing,_ especially not some pathetic high school football player with less respect for himself than he has for others, could scare me." Kurt stared at him defiantly,and he knew it was true. Nothing could scare him anymore; nothing could touch them. And he knew it, he knew in his heart that everything _was_ going to be okay. More than okay. It was going to be perfect.

When Karofsky sat in stunned silence for a moment, Kurt turned on his heel and started away. "Good-bye, David," he said. Kurt hurried across the grass, not looking back until he slammed the door behind him, and he leaned against it, thoroughly rattled. After a moment of deep breaths to calm himself down, he quietly climbed the stairs to bedroom, and laid on the bed as gently as possible.

"You need to stop leaving me to wake up alone," Blaine said, rolling over and wrapping an arm around him.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Kurt said brightly, sitting up and pushing all thoughts of Karofsky out of his mind. "Today I thought we could-"

"Kurt," Blaine groaned, pulling back down beside him. "Calm down. Can't we just have a day to...chill?"

"You mean...be lazy?" Kurt asked in genuine confusion. It seemed that the thought had never occured to him.

Blaine nodded slowly. "Yeah, trust me, it's fun."

"Well...maybe we could try it, for a little while."

"Good," Blaine said, grinning as he drew Kurt closer and tucked his head under his chin. He started humming, and Kurt laughed at the way Blaine's throat vibrated against his head. Then Blaine started singing. "_So come here, and never leave this place, perfection of your face slows me down, slows me down...so fall down, I need you to trust me-_"

Kurt cut in, singing the next line: "_Go easy, don't rush me, help me out-_-"

"_Why don't you help me out? Wake you up in the middle of the night to say I will never walk away again...I'm never gonna leave this bed_."

"God, I love you," Kurt said, snuggling closer and twining their legs together.

"And I love hearing you say it," Blaine said, turning his head for a kiss.

When they pulled away, Blaine said in Kurt's ear, "Can we just stay here like this...forever?"

And for once, Kurt didn't object.

* * *

**The End.**

**Okay! So! That was the end! As you can see! I know it's kind of a fail, but I'm terrible at endings usually. I hope you liked the rest of it enough to forgive me, because I have a few other storylines rattling around in my head that need attention :]**

**Like I said, I really really hope you liked this story (even the end and the random!Karofsky...I wrote that part separately a long long time ago and wanted to include it somewhere...whateva whateva I do what I want. Heheh.)**

**Okay, so you're all fantastic and wonderful and I love you and I wish I could hug every single one of you, and I hope you're interested enough to read anything else I come up with :]**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Ciao, bella :]**


	13. Update!

**Okay hi everyone! Posting this as a new chapter to make sure everyone sees it :]**

**I'm writing a part two to this story because...well...I love it and I feel bad for letting a bit of writer's block give you guys a crappy ending...so here's my chance to make up for it :]**

.net/s/7024047/1/Summer_Lovin_Had_Me_a_Blast

**Sorry in advance for the cheesy title, heheh...I'm thinking of a better title.**


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